Resurgam
by citysurrounded
Summary: A now 18 year old Mali has finally fulfilled her dream of becoming an N7, but that dream shatters when its denied due to hot political debate. As a new threat looms on the horizon Mali and her friends race time to search it out-before they themselves are found-while Mali fights a painful internal struggle as secrets long buried suddenly surface and threaten everything she has.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Mass Effect characters or their world, but I own my own characters.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Resurgam**

Mali panted as she instinctively ducked down from the blaze of gunfire humming in the air. Dirt coated her armor and her face, and somewhere she had lost the helmet to her onyx armor a long time ago. Her boots held firm in ankle deep mud, and rain pelted down on the battle raging below. Smoke from artillery fires clogged her nose as she clutched tight to the thick metal bar in front of her with her rifle clipped snuggly to her back.

"Forward!" A voice yelled, and once again Mali threw her body forward against the bar, digging deep into the mud to gain a foothold as she and thirteen others struggled to push their giant war machine up the steep path toward the dark, bunker-like fortress ahead. Around her, grenades and artillery gunfire exploded harmlessly off their shield as they struggled on. If they didn't take this fortress today, they would lose the war.

The forty-five N7 trainees had been taking part of the dreaded Blackout, one of the last stages of their grueling training. In the time frame of 6 weeks all the trainees had to traverse the rugged Dango mountain range to the top of BeakClaw Peak, the highest point in the range, battling cold, hunger, and also their trainers all the way. At many points in the trail, there were traps, natural challenges, and the occasional fortresses that held valuable resources that had to be overcome to continue on, mimicking the conditions they would have to face in a large scale invasion. The forty odd soldiers had been split up into three groups of fifteen persons for the duration of the month, each team being released a few days in between each other so as to space them out on the course, and no electronics or contact with the outside world was allowed, hence the nickname that past N7 trainees had given it. The trainees had to rely on just their skills and the weapons in their hands to get them through.

Mali and her team had been the first to be released and had been struggling on for three and a half weeks, always barley managing to make it out with the skin on their teeth, and now their position more desperate then it had ever been. They were running low on provisions and ammo, having run out of food two days ago and their water and bullets were going to soon follow. Everyone knew that if they didn't take the fortress today they were done for. Her team had been sieging against it for the better part of the week, fighting for every foot of ground. For three nights Mali had slept with dirt falling down into her bedroll from the ceiling of their hastily made trenches protecting them from the heavy artillery guns that sat on the walls of the fort. As she pushed against gravity up the hill exhaustion threatened to overtake her, the endless battles starting to take their toll.

A sudden hand on her shoulder startled her out of her haze and she looked up to see the grey eyes of Oliver looking at her. He motioned her out from her position at the war machine. "Take a break Mali, you've been leading the charge all morning now." She smiled gratefully and stepped aside as he took her place shoving the giant pila up the hill. They had been lucky to come across it a few days ago inside an old mining quarry a few miles down the trail. Usually it was used for breaking up difficult-to-reach rock formations by shooting out a giant spear like drill that could be reeled back in by a thick braided meal cord, however someone in their group had had the bright idea to adopt it into a war machine for breaking down the doors of the fortress their scout had spotted earlier. The only down side was that it felt like it weighed as much as an elephant without its motor working.

"Push!" Oliver yelled, rallying the others to another attempt at moving forward. Mali shook her head as she took a draught of water, careful to stand within the radius of the pila's shield that was protecting them. They weren't getting anywhere in the thick mud of the track and the sun was starting to decline in its arc, indicating almost afternoon. They had been at this since before light and had only managed to push it about four-hundred yards, and they still had about two-hundred to go before they were even in range to fire. Taking a breath, Mali summoned her biotics and felt the rush of energy that coursed through her body, blue flames dancing across her skin. Her eyes flashed silver as she directed a blast of biotic power at the end of the pila, increasing the slug like pace to almost a run.

She could only keep it up for so long, and too soon she felt the strain starting to ebb at her body only twenty yards later. Mali grit her teeth and continued to focus her energy towards pushing the pila, but a shout from Cadence made her stop. "Mali! Stop!" She yelled form her place in the line. "You've already overtaxed your biotics, you might kill yourself if you keep doing that!"

"We've got to get there!" Mali argued back to her long-time friend. "We can't take this much longer." Mali was right, one look around at her comrade's faces and Cadence knew they were close to giving up.

"Then we are just going to have to think of another way." Oliver answered. "Sacrificing yourself in a _training_ exercise is just plain stupid Mali." Even though she was frustrated Mali had to relent to his reasoning.

"Then what?" A shot from the large cannon on top of the fortress's barricade shook the ground, only just stopped by their weakening shield. Teddy stuck his head around from the back of the pila where he was monitoring its shield and the look on his face was not encouraging.

"We can only withstand a couple more of those hits from that cannon before our shield goes down," he grimaced, "three shots tops."

"That's it, we're dead." Cadence commented, always the optimist. Mali rolled her eyes at the comment, but what Cadence had said had a ring of truth. If they didn't figure this out soon, they're crusade was over.

"What about other teams? How far away are they?" Mali asked. Teddy shook his head.

"We are too far ahead, the other teams should just be coming up to the halfway point and the one-third point according to my markers, whereas we are just about done." He answered. Using spare parts and wires Teddy had created a few basic GPS markers with scavenged wires and parts out of boredom and had left them behind along with tips for the other teams as to what lay ahead. When disturbed, they sent out a signal that was picked up on by his receiver, and in that way they could keep track of the other team's progress. Mali sighed, rubbing her forehead. Hunger was making it hard to think, and the added noise of battle around her wasn't helping either. She tapped back into the line, letting someone else rest, and heaved helplessly against the pila.

"Think, think, think!" Mali mentally pounded her head with her fist as she pushed, but nothing came to mind. A loud commotion tried to wriggle its way into her mind but she pushed it out, trying to concentrate as her frustration at their situation grew. Another shout invaded her train of thought, and with a snarl she raised her head to see what was the matter, only to be met with a threatening sight. Currently exiting the fortress and was a recently empowered atlas mech, towering over them by a good eight feet, and it was swiftly making its way over.

"Oh Kee'lah!" Cadence sighed, "What in heaven's name is next?" Mali snickered, a grin forming on her lips. This was exactly what she needed.

"Actually, this can work..." Mali smiled as she abandoned her place in the bucket brigade.

"Hold up! Mali!" Oliver yelled as the girl prepared to leave the protection of the shield. "what are you thinking?! You got nothing on you that could break through its armor and if you haven't looked around lately, there ain't no plants around us anymore! We are way to high up the mountain!" Mali turned and smirked at her old friend.

"Your forgetting I learned a thing or two about energy way-back-when," she answered," besides, they wont want to hurt their own machine, and plus, this ain't my first rodeo." She quoted their famous catchphrase as she stepped out of the shields radius.

"Great." Oliver groaned. "Just great." He shot a look at Cadence, "Cade..." he didn't even have to finish before she was abandoning her spot in the line.

"I'm on 'er." She answered, shaking her head in disbelief.

Mali wasted no time once she stepped out of the shield and took off toward the ever approaching atlas. She purposely ran in a diagonal direction away from the pila, in hopes she could get it to follow her away from them. "Listen to me, big buddy!" she yelled as she ran toward it, "you aint gettin' anywhere close to my friends!" The atlas's head jerked at the sound, and it started to focus on her. The cockpit inside was surprisingly empty, so it was remote controlled, Mali deduced. "Come get me! Come get me!" Mali ran in circles, waving her arms in the air, drawing it her way and away from the others. "I'm just a lonely little sitting duck right out here in the open!" The atlas took one step toward her, and then a whistling sound filled the air.

"Mali! Watch out!" Cadence crashed into her, pushing them both out of the way as a blast from the artillery cannon came hurtling out of the sky. Mali covered her head as dirt sprayed everywhere and a concussion shock rattled her ear drums. Smoke clogged the air and Mali coughed as she staggered back to her feet, lending a hand to Cadence.

"Thanks," Mali spat blood out of her mouth, "that was a close one." The artillery guns on the fortress were silent, giving the battlefield a strange quiet. It would have been too much of a risk for the defending force to keep firing at them with their guns while the atlas mech was roaming around the battlefield, however, the artillery cannon, being more highly accurate do to a location lock feature, could still be fired without risk.

"It seems they wasted their next shot on us, which gives us time." Cadence replied. They watched as the atlas began firing at the pila and their comrades within the shield. For now they were protected, but that wouldn't last for long. "What is your plan for dealing with the atlas?" Cadence asked, her hand on her hip as they took their small reprieve. Mali smiled.

"I'm going to take its energy." Cadence frowned at her.

"Is that even possible?" She asked. Mali nodded, keeping her eyes on the atlas as she replied.

"Remember when me and Oliver fought that atlas during the raid in the NightWall program?" Mali asked and Cadence nodded, remembering. "Then you remember how we took it down. That's what I'll do here, but this time, I'll add a little something special." Cadence gave her a warning look.

"This isn't going to end with you as a fried piece of toast again, right?" She chuckled at the memory. Mali snickered.

"It probably will, knowing me." She replied. "What I need you to do is distract it so I can pop the hood of the cockpit open." Cadence shook her head.

"You know open confrontation isn't my style Mali, it's not going to end well." Mali placed a hand on Cadence's shoulder.

"It's all we have Cadence, there is no other way and we are running out of time." Cadence looked at her and then the now fourteen year old took a deep breath.

"Fine. Let's do this." Mali nodded and they took off toward the atlas, who had its back turned to them. Twenty or so yards from the beast Mali signaled and they split off from each other, Mali circling behind the mech. "Hey, you!" Cadence yelled, trying to gets its attention. While running, Mali pulled her spear point knife from the build in sheath in the onxy armor in the hollow of her back. The atlas immediately turned to the sound of Cadence's voice and took a couple shots at her small form.

The raven-haired girl took a flying leap to the side and rolled out of the way of the incoming missiles. She quickly popped up again and continued to goad the machine on. Mali crept closer, gripping the black blade tight in her hand, waiting for an opportunity. "Come on, is that all you got?" Cadence yelled over the roar of its gunfire. The atlas raised its other arm and fired a mini cannon at Cadence, and it was then that Mali decided to strike. Mali leapt upwards at the same time that Cade screamed as the cannon shot hit her full on the chest, knocking her backwards as electricity enveloped her body. Alarmed shouts made their way through the pila shield and Mali could here Oliver's voice shouting over the roar of mech's cannon.

"This ends now." Mali spat through the knife clenched in her teeth as she clambered up the side of the mech. It twisted in alarm as she gained a foothold on its shoulder and hoisted herself up next to the cockpit. She crouched down as a metal arm whizzed above her head, trying to displace her from her perch. Mali quickly jammed the flat end of the knife into the crevice between the cockpit and the metal chest plate and attempted to leverage it open as she struggled to keep her footing in the slick rain. Mali knew they didn't have much time left before the fortress's cannon was ready to fire, so with a last heave and a loud pop, Mali wrenched the cockpit open.

Gasping and with sweat dribbling through the dirt on her face, she slid into the driver's seat and ripped the control panel out of its moldings and threw it over the side of the mech. Mali ducked her head inside and struggled to push the thick tangled web of wires aside, looking for its power source. As she dug through a light blue glow started to permeate the cabin and as she pushed the final remnants of wires aside a small portion of the spherical power source was exposed. Closing her eyes, Mali laid the palm of her hand on the globe and fired up her biotics. Remembering what Liara had done that very first time she had activated her power, Mali drew upon the energy from the orb, but instead of only taking it and allowing it to dissipate, Mali let it renew her own waning resources. She literally sucked the life out of the machine.

The orb's glow slowly died as Mali took its energy, and she felt a shudder run through the atlas before its legs gave out and it collapsed to the side, jarring her and making her bang her head against the side of the panel opening as it crashed to the ground, lifeless. Mali crawled out of the mechs remains, alit with her biotic's blue flames as the unmistakable roar of the artillery cannon drummed against her ear drums. Mali looked up into the sky and saw the smoke trail as it reached the highest point of its arc and started to descended upon them. "Not this time." Mali smirked as it barreled toward them. With her biotic strength renewed Mali created a mass effect field and flung it up toward the missile, entrapping it and ripping it to shreds, causing it to blow up above their heads.

For good measure Mali turned toward the fortress and ripped the artillery cannon off its hinges from its place on the wall of the fortress and flung it off to the side of the battlefield, making a huge spray of mud and water shoot up from where it crashed to the ground. As fiery shrapnel from the missile rained down upon them Mali jogged over to where Cadence lay a little ways away from the atlas's body and crouched down next to the girl, who's armor and hair were still slightly smoking. Cade's eyes were a little hazy still from the shock of the blast hitting her and the electrocution she had so sacrificially received. She slowly turned her face toward where Mali was crouched and looking concernedly down at her.

"How you doin'?" Mali asked. Rain drops made soft plink sounds on both their armor in the quiet of the battlefield.

"i could be better," Cade replied, "like, for instance, be lying somewhere on a beach where they serve those little umbrella drinks with pineapple kebabs." Mali smirked as she held out her hand. Cade took it and Mali heaved the younger girl to her feet, patting her shoulder in comfort.

"Just be glad this is only a training exercise and the setting was only set to stun." Cade harrumphed and rolled her eyes.

"Let's just get to the fortress...the only thing that would make this situation better right now is those freeze dried rations I know are waiting on the other side."

"And maybe some butter." Mali chuckled as she slung the girls arm around her shoulders and they started to hobble toward the pila, which had depressingly only moved a few yards without their help.

"Butter?" Cadence asked in confusion, looking at the taller girl out of the corner of her eye.

"Ya, seeing as you are the one who ended up a little piece of burned toast this time." Cade burst out laughing in surprise and both started smiling, not having felt this easy comradery since the trial began.

"Would'ya guys stop slacking over there and give us hand?" Oliver yelled with a grin on his face as they neared the others. He wiped the sweat, or maybe it was rain, off his brow as they came limping into the safety of the shield. "Take five everyone." Oliver commanded as Mali deposited Cadence into the care of another teammate and joined Oliver at the front of the pila. Together they took in the sight of their quarry in front of them. The dark fortress stood cold and silent, unmoving in the rosy colors of dusk. "Is that too far away for you?" He asked, the same idea in both their heads.

"Nah," Mali wiped her matted hair and dirt from her face, "but as soon as we start moving again those artillery guns are bound to come active again. It will have to be fast, our shields are almost done."

"Then how do you propose we do this?" He asked. Mali smiled.

"Have you ever been on a roller coaster before?" Oliver's face paled.

 **Next Up: Mali learns to fly!**


	2. Chapter 2

Mali laughed quietly as she watched everyone who were currently following her orders with faces of terror on their faces as they shimmied their butts up onto the pila, straddling it with their thighs, and Oliver was at the front, a few feet back from the blade. His face was palest of all and Mali thought she saw his hands slightly trembling as they gripped the pila beneath him in a white-knuckled embrace. Once everyone was sitting up there in a line, Mali gave a nod to Teddy who was strapped in at the miner's terminal at the back and she herself clambered up onto the back of the war machine. "Yell at me when you're ready," Mali said to him, "I won't be able to hear you anyway else." Teddy nodded, determination in his deep blue eyes.

"Aye, Aye." He responded.

"Ok everybody," Mali turned back around and scooted up so she could put her arms securely around Cadences waist. "We are going to be going in hot, so there won't be time for mistakes, when I say down-you get down." They all nodded, fear in their eyes. "Hey," Mali reprimanded, "we are all about to become N7's, don't be a bunch of boobs." The tension slowly eased out of their bodies at her light teasing and now they could look squarely ahead at their target, abeid with apprehension. "Alright...let's do this thing."

Mali took off her boot and unceremoniously dumped the contents out into her palm. A lot of rain water and mud came plopping out, but with a glimmer, what she had been looking for finally sloshed out as well. She replaced her boot on her foot and spat onto her lucky credit chit, cleaning it of mud. Unknown to most, but Mali was still a beginner at using her biotics, and so still gained better results when she activated them with her mnenomonic. She placed the chit on her thumb and prepared her body for the energy rush before flipping the chit into the air and then catching it back down into her hand.

A powerful surge of energy engulphed her as the nodes in her skin shifted and her biotic power became accessible. Mali looked down at the chit in her hand and smiled, "Heads," she whispered. She slipped the chit back into her boot and then gripped the pila tightly with her thighs. "Whatever you do," she called out, "don't let go." With the powerful pull of acceleration on her skin Mali blasted the pila straight for the fortress ahead like a rocket. The wheels below them spun so fast that they started to glow a cherry red as they started to overheat and a huge spray of mud soared into the sky as they powered on. Immediately when they had begun to move forward the artillery guns started to fire and the bullets sprayed against the shield right into their faces, making bright flashes of light and making them flinch as they waded right into the middle of it.

Mali's hair whipped in the wind as they gained more speed, the fortress looming so close ahead. They had only been going for a few seconds when she heard a faint yell behind her. "Its time!" Teddy screamed into the wind to be heard. Mali squeezed Cadences shoulder and watched as the signal was spread along. As each person got the message they quickly laid down with their cheek pressed up against the cold metal of the pila, with their arms and legs tightly encircling and gripping it. Mali alone still sat straight up. The fortress was only a hundred yards out now and getting increasingly closer. She felt her stomach clench with what she was about to do. Mali felt a shudder as the pila moved into launch position and then she heard another yell from Teddy and Mali gripped even tighter to the pila.

In one quick second the pila was launched from the speeding platform and then all fourteen of them were airborne, seemingly going the speed of light as they sailed toward the metal doors. Quickly the slim blade of the pila expanded and tore itself apart, becoming like a huge claw, reaching to grip those huge metal doors in front of them. A mere fifty feet away from the doors Mali's eyes glowed silver as she prepared to use her biotics. She tensed up and hunkered down as the doors neared and then they were upon them, a huge jolt going up her spine as the pila ripped the bunker doors off their hinges with a huge crash and fell to the floor completely embedded.

As for her, as the pila came to a peaceful stop her forward momentum tore her and the others from their death grips to the war machine and sent them tumbling in the air at break-neck speed on a collision course with the far wall. Mali was not going to let that happen. "Suspend." She whispered and she cast out her biotics, making everything seem to turn into slow motion as she suspended everyone inside a mass effect field. They quickly lost their momentum and slowly turned and flipped in place, suspended in the air. Then, gently, Mali set everyone back down on the ground and released her hold on her biotics, letting them fade away, completely spent. The flames dissipated from her skin and her eyes returned back to her normal color as she laid on the hard concrete floor; for a moment everything was peaceful.

Shots rang out from a connecting hallway as robots with guns streamed into the hangar like room and started shooting. Oliver grabbed Mali by her armpits and dragged her behind a nearby piece of fallen door, propping her up against it. Mali tried to summon her biotics but the flames only spluttered weakly against her skin. "Don't," Oliver shook his head, "we can take it from here." Mali nodded exhaustedly as Oliver started picking off targets like no one else. Teddy ran in from where he had been sitting in the control pila's seat and started to help with the fight. Soon the team was advancing and going on the offensive, taking the fight elsewhere. "After them!" Oliver shouted and there was a lot of scuffling feet and war cries before it faded into silence. Mali saw Cadence a couple yards away, and when Cade saw her, she crawled over till she sat slumped next to her. If they turned their heads a bit to the left they could see out the bunker doors and watch the rain pelt down into the darkening night.

Mali sighed and leaned her head against the metal behind her. They sat in silence for a while, an occasional shock shaking the ground from a grenade or a cannon reverberating on the ground. The sound of the rain was hypnotizing and relaxing to her, and Mali felt herself start to drift. Cadences voice brought her back to the present again.

"Huh?" Mali asked.

"I said that it's finally almost over." Cadence repeated herself. "After two years, N7 training is finally almost over. It seems like we have been doing this for decades though."

"The first year went by pretty fast." Mali replied. She remembered those months, and while they had seemed like they would never end then, now it had seemed to fly by like a breeze compared to how the second year felt. In the two years of N7 training, the first year mostly consisted of book studying and negotiation, politics, and laws and regulation classes with minimal physical aspects. During this year they were let out on regular breaks around holidays and one could make frequent trips back to family and their homes, much like a normal school year. However the second year took on a very drastic turn, where a trainee suddenly found themselves pushed to use the skills they had acquired in the classroom out in the field, negotiating contracts between outer rim trading skirmishes, small recon missions, planet mapping excursions, and many other activities of the like. Due to the high amount of travel, energy, and time these took up Mali hadn't seen Liara or Shepard except for a few short video conversations in eight months.

"It'll be good to go home." Mali added, thinking of this.

"I wish Ara could have been here with us." Cadence whispered. Mali turned to look at the small girl next to her. Those few words were filled with so much meaning and sadness it made Mali's heart clench. Still after two years, it still sometimes hurt. _Now I know what Shepard must feel when thinking about Alenko_ , Mali thought. They didn't talk about it much anymore, but all still remembered the day and what had happened to them then. A painful reason for why they were all so close now.

"Me too." Mali answered, throwing her arm around the girl and brining her close. When Ara had died it had hit Cadence especially hard, and it wasn't really her death that had hurt the girl the most, but the betrayal. Cadence had looked up to the older girl as a sort of mother-sister figure, they all had, and when Ara had left them her betrayal had stabbed the girl to her very core. "She would have made the greatest N7 of us all." Mali said, and she believed it.

"Sometimes I wonder if I could have done something, I mean, I saw the signs, I knew her the best, but I never ever thought...I didn't think it bothered her that much, you know? I never thought there was _hate_." Cade buried her head into Mali's long hair, dirty as it was, and cried. Inwardly Mali sighed, no matter how many times they went through this Cadence still blamed herself. _If we are playing the blame game, it's all my fault_ , a little voice inside Mali's head spoke, but she pushed it away.

"Ara still loved you Cadence, she was just too caught up in taking out her revenge on her parents that she couldn't see the right path, I know because I've been down that road. It's dark and lonely, and nothing makes sense except taking your anger out on the person you blame it for. Everything else like eating, sleeping, and feeling gets consumed in your drive for revenge, and nothing else matters." Mali's eyes became distant as she remembered those weeks just after Yane's 'death', and how she had had only been able to think of one thing through her grief-killing Finick-and how it had consumed her to the point of obsession. "Possibly the only light she had during that time was you Cadence, you made her happy and helped her forget, even for just a bit, the pain her parents had unknowingly caused her. I could see it in her eyes, she truly loved you."

"It wasn't enough though, in the end she still did it, if I just could have been there...instead of storming the reaper with you...maybe..." Cadence sobbed into her shoulder. Mali shook her head sadly and tightened her hold on the young girl.

"No matter how the person feels otherwise, sometimes...sometimes there are things you can't come back from." Mali replied, thinking of just how close _she_ had come to going over the edge. Thinking about it reminded Mali of how thankful she was to have had Liara come into her life. "Listen to me Cadence," Mali took the girls face into her gloved hands and looked her straight in the eyes, "what happened to Ara was a tragedy and its ok to be sad, its ok for it to hurt, but by no means is it ok for you to feel guilty for her death, do you hear me? _It was not your fault_. Don't ever let that thought enter your head." Tears welled back up into Cadences dark brown eyes but she weakly nodded and then buried her head back against Mali's shoulder.

They stayed like that for quite a while, cuddled up with each other, listening to the rain and Cadence's occasional sniffling. Mali let the little girl rest, goddess knew that she needed it after these past few challenging weeks. Mali didn't know when, but suddenly Cade had started relying on her like an older sister sometime in the past two years since Ara's death,, and Mali was still trying to figure it all out. She had never had any type of younger sibling before, and sometimes it felt a little strange when Cade would come into her room late at night seeking comfort from a nightmare or they would share a secret smile at an inside joke. Mali chuckled quietly, smiling at the oddity of it. Not in a million years would she have thought she would be here like this, in N7 training, with a new little sister tucked under her arm. Back then to become an N7 had only been a faraway dream.

"Hey!" They heard pounding feet and Mali twisted to see one of their comrades coming down the hallway that they had disappeared into a little over a half an hour ago, chasing the robots. "The bunker's clear and now we are looking for food and supplies, we could use your help." He came up to them.

"Alright Sam, we will be on our way." He nodded and turned back around excitedly, the prospect of food was energizing them all. Mali willed her sore muscles to stand and she helped Cadence up with a hand. They started off down the hallway and up some stairs to the second level, where there was many doors in the process of being kicked down and searched. They traveled to the third floor where no one had searched yet, and they started opening doors.

"I'm so hungry I can almost taste it." Cadence commented as she shot the lock off of a door lazily and peeked inside. "Empty." She commented dryly.

"There seems to be a lot of those." Mali replied, closing the door to the empty room she had just seen. She crouched in front of the next door and started picking its lock. Cade raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" She asked. Mali shrugged.

"I'm trying to conserve ammo, you should too." Cade took a long look at her and then proceeded to shoot the lock off the next door.

"Too tired..." She replied. "Hey, this one's full of boxes!" She entered excitedly and rushed to the side of a wooden crate. "Help me pry it open!"

"Don't bother." Mali ripped a side open with her biotics and out spilled a pile of plastic containers. Cadence bent over and ripped one open, and aroma of food filled the air. Inside were a small can of peaches, a small bar of chocolate, and a ham sandwich preserved in a little special baggie with a small bottle of water. Without thinking they ripped it open and immediately split and ate the sandwich and water. "Oh my land, this is the best taste in the world!" Mali moaned happily.

"Guy's, we found food!" Cadence yelled down the hall, her mouth full of peaches. There was a sound like thunder and then thirteen other hungry people stormed into the room and immediately fell on the crates like a pack of wolves.

"Someone should... _munch, munch_...watch the door..." Oliver suggested as he stuffed his face.

"No way..." Someone replied from their place on the floor. "Not now..." The room was filled with the sound of ripping packages and swallowing for the next hour until Mali lay on the floor totally full, having eaten her body weight in food.

"Ughhh," Oliver groaned form next to her, "I can't move."

"We need to secure the perimeter and search the rest of the fort." Cade commented from next to them.

"Be my guest..." Mali murmured, exhaustion making her eyes heavy.

"You guys have done enough already," Sam heaved himself off the floor and kicked a few of his buddies, "we'll go secure things." With groans about half the people in the room rose to their feet and walked out.

"I'm going to fall asleep right here, amidst my own pile of trash," Oliver commented, "I don't think you can get lower than this."

"You definitely can..." Cade snickered as she looked over and saw Mali snoring and drooling onto her make-shift pillow of plastic containers.

They rested at the fort for two days, gathering supplies and strength for the last stretch of their journey. Amidst the many rooms they scavenged many much needed supplies like ammo, food and water, and to their delight, armor repair kits in one of the crates. Mali was able to replace her helmet and trade out her old dirt covered blanket for a new one. The only bad part was that there was little in the way of comfort in the fortress besides the high walls and guns on the roof. There were no showers, to their disappointment, and no beds. The only thing they found was a little pack of toothbrushes and toothpaste that they greedily made use of as soon as they found them. They had to make do with make-shift shower curtain and many bottles of water to wash off the dirt and feel any semblance of cleanliness. "It's like they purposefully did this so we would want to hurry up and finish the course so we can take a shower." Someone had complained once, and it was probably true. In no time they were back out in the crisp air, no rain this time, and hiking up a steep path in single file, having left the pila behind.

They had been walking for about three hours when someone gasped and pointed upwards. "Look, the summit!" High above them, where the clouds had briefly parted, they could see the rocky outcropping that was the end of their journey.

"That's still pretty far away." Cade said, holding her hand over her eyes and squinting upwards. "Looks like a two day hike."

"Then let's make it one!" Mali replied excitedly, and started off at a faster pace. No one complained at the notion, and at dusk when they made camp they had made good time, having walked about thirteen miles. The air was a lot colder and bit at them through their armor, which gave only slight protection against the elements. They weren't high enough for snow, yet, but it didn't make it any less unpleasant.

"No fires tonight, we don't want to give our position away, everyone would see it so high up in the mountain." Oliver said.

"You know," Mali commented as she settled down against a rock, wrapping her blanket around her, "one thing I won't miss is wearing this armor twenty-four seven." Cade nodded, taking a sip of water from her bottle.

"I never thought I'd hate it, but I do." They sighed and huddled together as a sharp wind pushed against their cocoon of warmth.

"At least you can see the stars tonight." Oliver said from close by. Mali opened her eyes to the vast sky above her and watched the two moons and the stars glisten from the blackness.

"I can't believe we've made it this far," Mali smiled," by tomorrows end we could be N7's!" Everyone smiled at that.

"Don't count your chickens before your eggs hatch." Cadence commented sardonically. Mali frowned.

"Seriously Cade? Do you always have to do that?!" The little girl snickered.

"Just keepin' it real guys, just keepin' it real."

 **Next Up:** **Command One misses the view**


	3. Chapter 3

"How in the world are we getting up there?" Oliver shaded his eyes as he tried to see to the top of the very sheer cliff that stood in their way. They had been hiking for another full day and it was almost dusk, but they were almost there. There were patches of snow wherever you looked, glowing in the dusky sunlight, and the wind was so cold they knew without a doubt they were close. No one wanted to camp there for the night, seeing as there was no coverage from the wind.

"There isn't a way around." Mali huffed as she jogged up from her scouting trip with two others behind her. "We have to go up."

"So we are going to rock climb, at dusk?" Cade said, a little worry entering her voice. Oliver looked at Mali.

"Can you transport us all up with your biotics?" Mali turned to look at the cliff, then started shaking her head.

"I could maybe do it three or four times, but not fifteen times Oliver, I'm still a weak biotic." She replied, self-resentment evident in her voice. Oliver nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok Mali, it was just a thought. I guess we are doing this the old fashioned way." Everyone was tied together into one long rope in case someone fell, and with Mali in front and Oliver in the back, they approached the cliff.

"Don't move on till you have a firm hold on the rock, and put your hands and feet in the same place as the person in front of you if you can help it." Mali instructed. There were a few nods and she took that as a sign to get going. The first handhold was surprisingly slimy, and Mali recoiled for a second before gripping the rock firmly. "Careful, it's slippery." Slowly she started her accent, trying to find a pace that was slow enough to be secure but fast enough that they would reach the top eighty feet above them before night fell. The air was silent and tense as they started out as everyone concentrated on not falling and pulling everyone to their death.

As they climbed Mali found a rhythm and relaxed as best she could while blazing the trail. _Foot, foot...hand...hand...look at path, foot, foot...hand...hand._ She panted and felt sweat drip down the nape of her neck as she hoisted herself over a slight ledge and squirmed up onto it on her stomach. She stood and rested for a second as the others slowly made their way up behind her. The view from the small rock outcropping was gorgeous, with the mountain range they had been hiking spread out beneath them. Miles away Mali saw a small bunch of flickering lights grouped together in the trees and a smile grew on her face. "I can see one of the other teams!" Cadence had crawled up next to her on the rock and squinted towards the lights.

"They're so small..." Grinning, Mali had an idea and pulled out her flashlight, turning toward the campsite she flicked it on and off in a brief Morse code greeting; she relayed it several times with no answer. Then when she was just going to give up a few bright flashes came from the campsite in a returned hello. Grins splashed their faces as they successfully made contact, no matter how brief it was.

"Let's keep going." Mali tucked her flashlight away again and started up the cliff as a bitter wind tore at her perch. "Careful, it's getting windy up here." They were about halfway up when it happened, and it was so quick Mali barely had time to register what happened. One minute she was reaching for the next hand hold and the next she was feeling her foot slip out beneath her as a strong wind displaced her...

"Mali!" Cadence yelled as she saw Mali's legs swing out into oblivion. Mali swung out perilously, only gripping with one hand, the rest of her free and dangling in the air. She grunted as pain lanced up her arm from the strain, then instinct took over and with a great heave Mali threw her other arm out against the rock, scrabbling for a hand hold until her hand caught a knob of rock. Mali lay against the rock gasping from fear and adrenaline as another wind whipped itself against the cliff. It was over before it began but Mali had frozen with fear and her limbs felt like they were paralyzed. "Mali, are you ok?" Cade yelled up to her from a few feet down.

"Y-yes...I-I th-ink so..."

"I'm coming up." Cade announced as she made her way toward Mali. "I know you're afraid of heights so I know this is hard for you..." Cade began as she got closer, "but Mali, you are going to have to move sometime." Mali's muscles were taut with strain and panic as she clutched the wall for dear life, her head pressed against the wall and her eyes closed as harsh breaths flared her nostrils. "Come on Mali...you can do this..." Cade told her as she stepped up to be beside her, but she accidently grabbed in the same place Mali had had her foot and quickly she felt her hand starting to slide off the rock. She could only gasp as she lost her hold and started to fall.

"WATCH OUT!" An arm lashed out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her in toward the rock and to safety. Mali's blue eyes were still wide with fright but they had cleared from the primordial fear that had controlled them a few moments ago. Cade panted next to her, adrenaline in her system. They rested like that for a minute getting their breath back, and keeping their eyes on each other, both clutching heavily at the rock. "You ok?" Mali whispered. A shudder past through Cadences small frame as she thought of what could have been.

"Let's just get out of here," she replied and after a moment of thought she added, "And thank you." Mali nodded, and then she started up again. They passed word down about the trouble spot and continued on. Nothing else major happened as they continued on. At sixty-five feet up it became too dark to see without a light, and Mali had to turn on the beams on her helmet to keep going. The night air was even chillier than the air before and Mali was shivering as she climbed, her arms on fire and her joints aching from use. _Foot, foot...hand...hand, look up_. The top drifted agonizingly closer as they made they're ascent; a light mist starting to form as night completely fell.

A half an hour later as she looked up she was surprised to see that the top of the cliff was only five feet above her head, and ten minutes later Mali was swinging herself up and over the ledge, landing in an exhausted pile with a loud huff. A few minutes later Cade pulled herself up and over and landed next to her, followed by the next person and so on and so forth. A full twenty minutes later Oliver's head peaked over the ledge and he crawled up onto the barren, rocky top. "Wow, that look us almost three hours." Teddy rubbed his arms from where he was propped up against a boulder. Mali's stomach grumbled, so she weakly unzipped her small pack and pulled out the last of the jerky she had been saving from a time when they hunted a wild pig foraging in the undergrowth a few weeks ago, desperate for some meat. She scarfed it down along with a bottle of water before standing and taking in their surroundings.

They were on a wide, flat, mountaintop riddled with rocks, small mosses, and the occasional boulder where the elements had carved the rock away. A craggy trail led upwards along the mountain ridge to the great shadow looming above them that was the summit of BeakClaw Peak, surprisingly it was only a few miles away. "We will hunker down here for a few hours, then at first light, we'll finish this thing." Oliver commanded. Everyone nodded, the sweet relief of sleep too tempting to turn down.

"I'll take first watch." Mali volunteered. Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? I'm more than willing-"

"Nah, I got it." Mali passed the offer up non-chalantley. The truth was was that her almost-fall had shaken her up more than she had let on, and she doubted that she would be getting much sleep at all tonight. As everyone rolled out their bed rolls under a pile of big boulders Mali climbed to the top of one of them that provided a good view of the surrounding area and settled herself down to wait out the night. Soon soft snores drifted upwards to her ears and she stifled a small smile. She rolled her muscles to try to disperse their achiness, but sitting against rock wasn't helping.

She shifted uneasily as flashes of distant memory caused herself to involuntarily flinch. She hadn't told anyone, but ever since Ara had died she had been having trouble sleeping-fear, doubt, and most of all guilt haunting her dreams. Liara had mentioned to her a couple of times that Mali looked 'tired' in their vidcalls, but Mali had easily passed it off as just stress from the constant activity of N7 training. If she was honest with herself though, Mali knew it was much more. She closed her eyes as flames from the past filled her eyes, and the stench of smoke filled her mouth. _Her hand reached out toward the window, her back blistering with heat and pain_ …Mali shook the memory from her head and sighed.

Thinking of that would do nothing for her now besides bring up old scars she had long since buried. Deciding to think of happier things, Mali thought of Liara and how excited she was with the prospect of possibly seeing her soon as each N7 trainee was allowed some leave after the completion of the course. _I will really be in the military_ …Mali thought, daunted by the prospect. Of course Shepard was proud to have his daughter following in his footsteps and even achieving them sooner than he had, despite the fact that her talent in hand-to-hand was still second to his experience. But sometimes she knew that he worried that she had lost her childhood too soon. Mali smirked at that—even though both of her guardians (Mali still didn't know if she felt comfortable calling them her parents) tried to understand, neither of them could ever fully relate to how it had been growing up on the streets, and the fact that as soon as you were born there it was common knowledge that your childhood would be a short and painful experience before you were forced to grow up, that is if you lived that long, of course. Mali had grown able to take care of herself long before she had even met Shepard.

However, as Liara was slowly showing her, Mali needed people in her life more than she thought she did, because as she was slowly finding out, there were more things to living then learning and having the skills and resources to stay alive. They were concepts of family, love, commitment, and honesty—all things that did not come naturally to the girl. And as Mali sat on that rock, above all, she reviled in the feeling that somewhere out there in space, there was a home waiting for her to go back to. Three hours later as she was relieved from her watch Mali was still smiling at that thought.

At the first hint of dawn the trainees gathered up their bedrolls and with Oliver's blessing, made a couple of small cooking fires in the shelter of the boulders away from prying eyes. They had a quick breakfast of oatmeal made from the raw goods they had found in the fortress and then after cleaning up the camp and making sure they left no trace of its existence, they headed onto the ridge that would lead them to the summit. It was a quiet hike, but the mood was light and happy, the prospect of the Blackout ending soon cheering everyone up. The sun slowly rose as they crested yet another small hill on their way up and Mali soaked in the rays and filled her lungs with crisp mountain air, filling herself with peace and trying to forget the turmoil of the night. "Almost there!" Cade gripped the straps to her backpack and pushed forward as the last stretch came into view-a steep hillside full of loose rocks and shale. "First one up gets dibs on the first shower!" Mali and Oliver exchanged amused glances as she forged ahead, scrabbling on the loose rock up the hillside.

"I'm surprised that the end was this easy. It was very anti-climactic." Oliver commented. Mali rolled her eyes.

"No Oliver! Just leave it alone! Don't jinx it…" She warned. "We've been through enough."

"I'm just saying Mali, We've been fighting things for weeks. There's always a boss…" What he said put a small seed of doubt in Mali's stomach and so she looked around at her surroundings, now looking at them with a tactical eye. They had descended into a valley-like part of the trail, giant boulders on each side, before the trail led to the steep hillside of shale that led to the top.

"Well, if there was one…this place would sure be a great place to stage a…" a glint on top of a boulder to the direct right of them caught her attention and immediately Mali recognized the shine of a muzzle, "AMBUSH!" She yelled and pulled Oliver down at the same time bullets started flying over their heads.

"Move!" Oliver grabbed her arm and they started running for the hill. Their teammates were desperately scrambling up the steep hill and taking cover wherever they could, quickly returning fire. A loll in the fight as everyone changed thermal clips gave Mali and Oliver the opportunity to make a run for the hill. Halfway there bullets started spraying at their heels but they quickly dove behind a nole off to the side of the trail. Suddenly the buzz of a familiar sound filled the air, like a deep thrumming sound.

"It's a Kodiak shuttle!" Cade shouted from her perch high above them, "ETA five minutes." At that time the heavy gunfire resumed and Mali and Oliver had to duck down to avoid being shot.

"Defensive retreat toward the summit!" Oliver yelled. Immediately their teammates responded by preforming the staggered switch shot. One person firing while the other one fled up the hill, then they took position and fired while their comrade followed. The technique kept constant pressure on the enemy while allowing for a swift retreat. However the shale made it hard to get a solid footing and as Mali ran up the hill, she saw Oliver's foot slip, and she hit the dirt as the enemy took the brief window to fire. He regained his balance and continued to fight, and Mali quickly got back up and dove behind the boulder with him. They crouched and replaced their thermal clips as bullets sprayed around them. "Sorry." Oliver offered her a sheepish grin. Mali just gave him a flat stare that spoke volumes then turned and continued to shoot. In this manner they quickly made their way up the hill, following the rest. As they crested the landslide with sweat pouring down their face, they saw their teammates slowly loading into the open hangar door as others were crouched in defensive positions returning fire. "Run for it!" Oliver yelled and they bolted toward the small ship as the last few edged toward its entrance. The team members at the doors held the pressure at their backs as they booked it toward the ship, bullets flying around them. With a grunt Mali felt a small shock numb her arm as a bullet grazed her right armored shoulder piece. "Hurry!" Teddy yelled from where he crouched by the door.

With a last sprint and a heave Oliver and Mali dove into the hangar and their other teammates quickly followed inside, the hangar door quickly shutting and the Kodiak taking off. Getting off the floor Mali gave a nod of thanks to those who had watched their backs and then they joined the rest of the team where they were crammed into the small passenger space, which had been designed with only a few passengers in mind, not fifteen sweaty young adults with full battle gear and backpacks on. Mali slouched down in a corner, watching as they rose away from the summit, which was currently being swarmed by what looked like a heavy stream of gun toting robots. "Dang, I didn't even get a good view from the top." Cade lamented.

The pilots angled the Kodiak towards the ground and with a blast of speed they were swiftly skimming across the ground. Only ten minutes later the N7 training headquarters came into view. It consisted of two big buildings next to each other, the one om the right housing classrooms, meeting rooms, offices, and instructors personal chambers, and the other, larger, building was a hangar and on the upper floor an inside gym. To the farthest right, yards away from either building were the long, low buildings that were the barracks for the trainees. The rest was open training field with a small, but challenging obstacle course, one they had all done many times surrounded by thick walls and a gate, and then more grassy fields outside. In the distance the shadow of the beginnings of a forest could be seen on the horizon, a place Mali had spent many of her nights sleeping in. The Kodiak shuttle slowed and Mali could hear the murmur of the pilot's voice as the approaching vehicle's credentials were checked.

The Kodiak flew in through the open gate and landed inside the hangar without a hitch. The hangar door opened and they all piled out unceremoniously…until they saw the one and only Admiral Hackett standing by the hangar door. Immediate they dropped their bags at their feet, and despite how tired they were, they filed into the rigid attention pose in a straight line. Beside the man was Admiral Hewler, an N7 and the chosen director of the N7 program. As he saw them file in he began to clap, the sound echoing in the empty hall. Both men stepped forward and approached them, Hewler with a smile on his face. "Very exceptional performance, Command One, you have managed to complete the course two weeks early. Everyone was prepared to watch you fail, and fail miserably, but you have managed to surpass all expectations. You met every obstacle bravely and cleverly thought your way through every puzzle, well done. Your teams score will be posted in the hall outside the main mess in a couple time. The other two team are estimated to finish early as well, in about a week at the latest. Until they finish that time is yours to do whatever you wish, however stay close to the grounds. You are all dismissed."

Cade practically booked it out of the hangar and ran for the barracks, her duffle bag thumping on her back the whole way. Oliver and Mali followed, albeit a bit more slowly. "It's disturbing how it only took us ten minutes to reach the base, it felt like we were on another planet, yet we were so close the entire time." Mali sighed.

"It ended so fast." Oliver replied, "It's all just a blur." They stopped and looked at each other, having reached their separate ways.

"I'm sure it's just the shock of re-entering life." Mali reassured. "It just kinda feels like the time when I saw my first microwave…the effects will wear off with time…hopefully." He raised an eyebrow.

"Microwave? Are you kidding?" Mali shook her head with a frown, all seriousness.

"Those things are unnatural." Mali hissed with disgust. Oliver laughed then turned toward the boy's barrack, lifting his hand in a small wave. Mali smirked and walked up the steps and through the screen door to the inside. She could already here Cadence humming from the shower. Mali sighed and collapsed onto her small twin sized bed, moaning at its softness. "It's good to be home." She whispered, her eyes closing.

Later that night when Mali knew that Liara would be lounging around her house grading papers or whatnot, Mali hesitantly called her form her newly re-instated omni-tool. She waited a few minutes before Liara's pleasantly surprised face appeared on screen. "Mali! It's been a while! How are you?"

Mali shifted into a more comfortable position on her bed, laying on her stomach with a pillow under her chin, the omni-tool on her arm splayed out in front of her. "I just got back from that test I told you about." She smiled, glad to see her adoptive mother's face after so long apart.

"The…Blackout, you called it?" Liara asked with a smile, "How did you do?"

"We finished with a record breaking time I guess, I was on a team with Oliver and Cade in it; we're always good together." Mali replied. "How are you?" Before Liara could answer Shepard came out of nowhere and shoved his face into the screen, startling Liara.

"Is that Mali I hear?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Hey Shep." Mali smiled. A slight frown crossed his face at hearing her call him Shep but it was gone so fast Mali thought she might have just imagined it.

"So you finished the Blackout phase?" Mali nodded. "How was it?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, we caught a wild boar for food and we hiked a mountain. We sieged a fortress and I didn't take a proper show for four weeks." His eyebrows shot up at the wild boar part, then he smiled proudly.

"Only four?" He raised an eyebrow. "That must have been a new record."

"I just feel bad for the suckers still out there," Mali grimaced, "I do not want to be them right now." He chuckled.

"Are you planning a trip home soon?" He asked. Mali ran a hand through her hair.

"I hope so, but I'm not sure. I'm getting a vibe that something else might be going on."

"Like what?" He asked.

"Today Admiral Hackett was here when we got off the Koidak, it's not unusual that he would want to see the upcoming N7's but the way he was so stiff and how he didn't say a word to us didn't sit well with me—the fact being that he came all the way to see us." Liara and Shepard exchanged glances. "What?" Mali asked.

"Well, there have been some debates going on." Liara alluded. "About the new generation of N7's graduating."

"And?" Mali asked. Shep placed a hand on Liara's shoulder.

"Its probably just the press trying to stir the pot Mali-nothing that you should worry about." He smiled at her one last time. "I'll leave you two girls to talk, I love you Mali and I hope to see you soon!" He gave a little wave and then exited the room via a door in the background.

"Shepard? In the house? At this hour?" Mali asked with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on between you two?"Liara gave her a sheepish grin.

"It's not what you think Mali, he's just over for dinner." Despite her non-chalont answer a small blush was forming on her cheeks.

"Reeeeeaaallllyyyy?" Mali slyly implied things. Liara just chuckled.

"You'll just have to come home and analyze the situation yourself." Mali smirked at the thought of them being together, it was about time! They had been dodging each other for two years now. "So, how have you _really_ been?" Liara's soft voice inquired. Immediately Mali's mood fell.

"I'm missing you, and I'm stressed out." Mali answered blatantly. The asari on the screen looked a little worried.

"What about?" She asked. Mali locked eyes with her mother-and daresay-her closest friend, and she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Just N7-related stuff." Mali lied. Liara's eyes flashed, unreadable.

"This whole thing has really been hard for you, I bet. You're only eighteen Mali, its ok to feel a little in over your head." Her voice was soft and understanding. "Have you been sleeping?" She carefully asked. Mali didn't answer. "Why not?" Again, Mali said nothing. Liara frowned, "the point of a conversation is that we both talk Mali, but this is starting to feel really one-sided." Mali rubbed her forehead.

"I just don't want to talk about it right now Liara." Mali finally answered. "I don't know how I feel yet, and I feel uncomfortable talking about it before I know what's going on." Liara sighed, knowing it was better not to push her difficult teen.

"I'm here for you honey, when you're ready we can figure it out together-whatever it is." Mali gave her a grateful look, then yawned. "I think it time for you to try to get some shut-eye, hiking a mountain really takes it out of ya." She smiled.

"Alright, goodnight then Liara."

"Goodnight Mali, I love you."

"I love you too." Mali shut off her omni-tool and slipped under her covers. Since they were the only girls back so far Mali and Cadence had the whole barrack to themselves that night.

"Sure feels good not to have a rock for a pillow." Cade commented as she stretched out in her cot a few bunks down.

"Sure does." Mali agreed, then she switched out the light.

 **Next Up: Mali picks a fight with Hackett**


	4. Chapter 4

The next three days Mali spent recovering-aka lounging around the campus in her PJs-and cleaning her N7 issued onyx armor, which after hours of scrubbing finally shone a glossy black again. Most of the time though Mali caught up on sleep, having not rested this good in months. It seemed that exhaustion was the tonic she needed to pacify the vivid nightmares she'd been having. That was what she hadn't wanted to tell Liara, because it revealed things about herself that she wasn't ready to acknowledge yet.

Mali sighed as she put down the brush, trying yet again to untangle the snarls that had developed in her long blonde hair when they were out in the field. She stared at herself in the mirror in a white tank top and loose black shorts that ended mid-thigh. Her body boasted strong shoulders and a well-muscled-yet still feminine-physique. She had grown slightly taller in the last year and now stood at an even 5'5'', however she was still on the short end of the spectrum. Mali slightly turned so her shoulder blade was in view, revealing the edges of silvery scar tissue that adorned the back of her shoulders and just peaked out of her shirt at the nape of her neck. Her fingers ghosted over the slightly raised skin before she shuddered and threw on a black hoodie.

It was the same scar Liara had asked about two years ago when they had discovered her biotics, and the one that Mali kept covered at all times. It was the story of that scar that had been so vigorously invading her dreams at night. Mali quickly gave herself one last look before she opened the bathroom door and strode out of the barracks to the mess hall in the main building for dinner, an excited buzz meeting her ears as she stepped through the double doors. Her teammates were gathered in a small group around a glowing screen at the far wall and excited chatter dominated the room. "Mali!" Teddy waved her over, "the scores are up!" She walked over, and peering around her classmates head's she saw the board, and gasped.

Their team had made it into the top five scores of all time, placing fourth. "Jeeze, one team finished the course in two weeks." Someone whistled, looking at the top score.

"Still though, being some of the youngest ever N7's to be trained, we did awesome!" Chocolate cake was served that night in celebration and the mood was joyous. Mali smiled and laughed, but in the back of her head there was a nagging doubt that it wasn't over yet-and she was right. The next day to the surprise of all they were called to a muster outside their barracks at the break of dawn. N7 Heweler and Admiral Hackett, as well as the rest of the tutory staff were present. They lined up in five perfect rows of three and stood at attention. In her place in line Mali slightly frowned, wondering what could be up. Taking a deep breath, the N7 solider took his stance in front of the small group.

"I want you all to know first off, how proud your fellow N7's are of your achievement, and to us, you are all fully fledged N7 soldiers deserving of the recognition you deserve. You passed every test, followed through in every assignment, and as such you are standing here today ready to receive your long awaited title and responsibility of an N7, however, it seems that the military is not ready to give it." There was a pause, and although he didn't hear one peep of opposition from the fifteen young soldiers in front of him, they could not disguise the angry fire and disbelief in their eyes. "Do to reasons better left unsaid, Earth's military has received severe opposition from the Citadel Council and other elite forces, such as the Justicars and STGs to promote you to the title of N7. We are not giving up, but for the time being to promote you would be to invite a universal dispute that we are trying to avoid, for the good of the galaxy. You are all relieved of duty until further notice; tomorrow eight a.m. there will be a shuttle here ready to ferry you to the nearest transport depot and from there you are on your own until we contact you again. We do not know when this will all clear up-so think of your time off as an extended leave."

"There is no reason for you to stay here anymore-weather in the end you become N7s or not-you have completed your training. Have a good night's rest, and don't think too hard about this, I'm sure that it will work itself out eventually. Dismissed for the final time, Command One." The yard was filled with discontented murmurs and angry glances at Admiral Hackett as they trickled away back to their bunks to pack. A hand was placed on her shoulder to find N7 Hewlet standing next to her. "Trainee Somali T'soni-Shepard, your presence has been requested by Admiral Hackett in Office 20A at 17:00 hours tonight." Mali nodded and he patted her arm reassuringly. "Like I said Mali," he said in a less formal tone, "it'll all work out."

"Thanks Hewlet." She answered, but there wasn't much enthusiasm in her voice. She wandered back to her bunk after breakfast to start the massive chore of packing her belongings. Despite the regulations after two years of living in one place things had still accumulated around Mali's small bunkspace. Between trips home to small vacations in the neighboring towns when they were on leave Mali had a lot of stuff to go through. One good thing was that anything that was military issued had to be returned to them-including her armor, books, and some data pads-which accumulated for about a third of her stuff. The rest she slowly sifted through, throwing things either in the junk pile or the keep pile. About an hour in Cadence and Oliver came storming into the bunkhouse and sat down on the bed opposite her. "Can you believe this Mali?" Cade crossed her arms in a pout. "After all we've done! This is how they are going to treat us?" Deep down Mali was furious, but she had guessed something like this could happen, and she was prepared for the disappointment.

"Aren't you not allowed in here?" Mali raised her eyebrow at Oliver, ignoring Cadence's tantrum for a second. He smirked.

"What are they going to do? I've already been stripped of my rights to being an N7 and we are leaving tomorrow, what else can they do?" He asked. "You seem unnaturally calm about this." Mali sighed.

"Honestly, I thought something like this might happen, I'm mostly disappointed. Those filthy bureaucrats lived up to their reputation this time. I have half a mind to go to the citadel and tell them myself." Cade and Oliver chuckled at the image that that imposed.

"I think you better just stick with us-when you are alone things don't end well for you." They convinced her to go to breakfast and while they were there the second team was flown in, to everyone's astonishment. As they watched the tired trainees disembark the vessel Cade cringed.

"Did we look that bad when we got off?" She asked, taking in their muddy and battle worn appearances. It seemed exhaustion was written in to every line of their body and every move they made.

"Probably as bad or worse." Oliver chuckled. During breakfast the new arrivals were greeted by Hewlet and given the same bad news that they had received that morning, making them look even more exhausted and grumpy. After breakfast the trio went back to work packing and finished by late afternoon. Then they sat around in the lounge room for some R&R, Oliver and Cadence practically attacking the game console there, having been deprived of it for weeks. They immediately went to a third person shooter and Mali had to roll her eyes, "didn't you guys get enough of that already out in the field?" Both shook their heads no.

"Mali, it's totally different than that." Cade said from beneath her headgear. Mali glanced at the clock and saw that her meeting with Admiral Hackett was nearing, so she reluctantly picked herself up off the couch and headed toward the offices on the upper floors. "See you guys in a bit." They didn't even respond as she took to the stairs and Mali snorted. She raced down the hall to 20A and knocked.

"Come in." Admiral Hackett's deep voice came through the door. Mali entered and was greeted by the familiar face of her dad's friend. The Admiral was no stranger to her, she had met him casually a few times, and he had even come to the thanksgiving dinner that Shepard had thrown for his old crewmates two years ago (at Liara's house, of course). Despite this proper formalities needed to be upheld and so Mali came in at attention. "At ease Shepard, please sit down." He said, slightly smiling.

"Thank you sir." Mali eased her still sore body into the plush office chair in front of his desk. He noticed her wince and chuckled. "It never gets old seeing the after effects of BeakClaw Peak, especially after you have done it yourself." Mali grinned.

"I'm sure someday I'll find a way to laugh too sir." She replied.

"I'm sure the news of the N7's rejection has upset you Mali, but there is nothing I can do about it right now, my hands are tied in this."

"I know sir, there isn't much you can do while the Council has their foot down." He chuckled at that.

"Wise girl. But that isn't why I asked you to come here. Even though all you trainees are going to be on leave soon, the Alliance has other plans for you. They found your unique use of biotics in the field a couple days ago as impressive as expected, but still lacking the edge they desire. They want you to go to the Citadel and learn from a teacher they have set up there." Mali frowned.

"In other words they want me to learn how to blow even bigger stuff up." The Admiral sighed.

"I know your views on your use of biotics, you were Liara's pupil after all, but this is the Alliance Mali, every new sword we can sharpen we will, and don't forget its us that gave you your biotics in the first place. Now they expect you to learn and use them."

"Yes sir," Mali begrudgingly let it go, "when am I expected?"

"At first they wanted you immediately after training, but I convinced them to give you a week's leave, because I know it's been a long time since you saw your family…longer than any kid should be away from home."

"Excuse me sir?" Mali asked, confused. He smiled.

"What I meant is that with all this training sometimes we forget you NightWall graduates are all still children. I don't doubt your battle ferocity but even I know it can be hard being away from home." Mali frowned.

"Is this the thinking that is inhibiting us from becoming N7s?" Mali asked.

"For the most part yes, all the accusations stem from the fact that you are all still children. When we started the NightWall project we didn't think about the galactic repercussions of letting children onto the battlefield, but we were desperate because our numbers were dwindling, and we didn't see anything wrong with recruiting so young, seeing as-" here Admiral Hackett cut himself short.

"Seeing as we all would have died young anyway?" Mali supplied. Hackett sighed.

"Precisely." Mali stood in anger.

"Sir, I have worked for this title- _we-_ have worked for this title and I am just as good as any N7 out there! I've passed all the training requirements, done all the schoolwork-I am an N7! Don't think that just because I am a kid that I'm not capable! I'm a Shepard, I was born for this!" Hacketts eyes flashed.

"Don't forget your place, soldier!" He barked, causing Mali to stop mid-tirade. "Sit down." She sat. Hackett folded his hands and placed them on the desk, looking her straight in the eye. "At age _fifteen_ you killed a crime lord and thirty-one men alone, destrpyed the last reaper in the universe, and earned the Medal of Honor for your bravery. Don't think that we don't know that you are capable, but never, never think that just because you so happen to fall into the Shepard line that you have entitlements. Your father, and your grandmother and grandfather before him, had to earn every scrap of recognition that they received with their own blood, sweat, and tears- and you will have to do the same!"

"The issue is not your skills, although there is much work to be done there, believe me. The issue is that in the eyes of the public you are a _child_ , and there is no getting around that fact. The truth is people don't feel very comfortable with the idea of a _child_ negotiating between two warlords on behalf of humanity. Of a _child_ defending the front lines from an onslaught of enemies. Of a _child_ forced to witness the horrors of war."

"THE STREETS WERE A WAR!" Mali burst out. Hackett raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt, so Mali continued. "Blood ran like water on the streets of New Chicago, and every day you fought to stay alive and not lose your sanity. No child can live there and stay a child for long-if you didn't grow up fast you didn't get the chance to grow up at all. There were never any second chances. If people are so concerned about my safety now-after I've had full military training and am a _legal_ adult-where were they when I was a scared little five year old girl taking shelter under a garbage dumpster to try and keep out of the acid rain?! I thought the point of you recruiting from the streets was so that no one would care whether we lived or died on the battlefield." Mali's face was pink from anger and her chest heaved with exertion. "Those people can't tell me when or where its ok to lose my childhood innocence-there's nothing left to lose." Mali sat back down it a heap and stared the Admiral in the eye defiantly-his eyes were calm but hard.

"If that had been anyone else, they would have been suspended immediately-and I still have half a mind to do it after that display of insubordinance!-but you can't train at the Citadel if I did that." Mali gulped slightly as he made the threat, his eyes boring holes into her skull with their intensity. He sighed closed his eyes, rubbing his temples for a second and getting himself under control. He opened his eyes again and Mali was surprised to see sympathy in them. "Mali, I understand where you're coming from and I believe that _you_ believe you can handle anything…but maybe you can't, not alone anyway-even your father asked for help sometimes." He shook his head at Mali's still defiant gaze and motioned at the door. "Your dismissed soldier, they will be expecting you at the citadel in a weeks' time." Mali got up and made her way toward the door, but Admiral Hackett stopped her. "Mali, I hope to God you don't talk to your new instructor like you just did to me, because if you do she will flatten you on your ass, get what I'm saying?"

"Yes sir." Mali's eyes were respectfully cast down. "And I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to get so worked up." He nodded.

"Dismissed Shepard." Mali closed his office door and walked down the hall, slightly in a daze. She kept replaying his words over and over as an uneasy feeling stirred in her gut… _"I believe that you believe you can handle anything…but maybe you can't..._ Mali let out a small growl of defiance and shook her head. No way was she letting anyone tell her she couldn't do something, and hadn't she already proved she could take anything on? Mali promised herself that she wouldn't falter in her resolve, yet that uneasy feeling was still with her when she found Oliver and Cadence still at it with the videogame.

"Hey." Oliver said, pulling up the headgear covering his kind eyes. "You were gone a long time." He watched as she huffed herself into a chair next to their place on the floor of the lounge room. Sensing her mood he paused the game with Cadence and both looked at her quizzically. "What happened?" He asked.

Mali was quiet for a time, debating with herself, and then with her eyes downcast, she asked "Do you think I'm strong?"

"What?" He asked a little surprised.

"Do you think I could handle anything?" Mali asked, meeting his eyes. He sighed, but answered without hesitation.

"Without a doubt. You are one of the strongest people I know. You always manage to make it through, and somehow bring us all through with you, so yes, definitely." Mail's eyes filled with relief and she looked at Oliver with gratitude.

"Thanks, but I owe a lot of thanks to you and Cade as well." She said, taking in her two friends. "Hackett is going to have me on a shuttle to the citadel in a weeks' time for a new biotics training regime." Both her friends smiled but winced.

"Good, but you won't have time to loosen the kinks out of your butt from hiking." Cade smiled. Mali chuckled at the girl's comment.

"True, but something tells me this new trainer will work those out in no time."

 **Next up: Mali has trouble sleeping**


	5. Chapter 5

_Mali's bare feet pounded down the cobblestone street toward the thick black smoke curling into the air, her ten year-old lungs burning with the strain she was demanding from them. A few blocks later and the darkness of the night was lifted by the blaze of the fire in front of her. A huge crowd was gathered outside the five story apartment building watching the flames scratch at the night sky as smoke continued to billow in waves from the windows and roof. Mali had to cover her eyes from the smoke and glare as she openly gaped at the sight. She knew Yane would go to any lengths to secure their chance of success tonight, but this seemed a little extreme. However Mali trusted her 'big brother's' judgement, so if he thought it was necessary to cover their tracks then Mali didn't disagree. As she stood there a whistle she recognized called her from a nearby alleyway and looking over her shoulder she saw the tell-tale glint of Yane's blonde hair shining from the shadows._

 _Mali quickly jogged over and embraced him, her cheek pressing against his cold blue-suns armor. It was splattered with blood and smelled of sweat and grenade smoke, but Mali wasn't bothered. She stepped back and looked up as he worriedly took in the burning building. "Is it done?" She asked hesitantly. He nodded, not taking his eyes off the flames. Nickel, Yane's right hand man waved a greeting from a few feet off where he stood with a small group of teens, his rifle and armor in the same state as Yane's. Mali smiled and nodded in his direction before turning back as Yane answered her._

 _"_ _Forge is dead, Nickel and I took care of it. We can finally leave the Blue Suns and start a new life far from here." Mali turned to take in the flames next to him._

 _"_ _I'm glad, but did you really have to burn our whole building down?"_

 _"_ _What?" He turned to her, confused._

 _"_ _You know, to cover our escape?" He scrunched his face is worry as he turned back to the building._

 _"_ _I didn't start the fire Mali, I was just about to ask you what was going on…" he answered. "It took me by complete surprise when I got here." Mali's eyes grew wide and panic started to clutch at her stomach._

 _"_ _You didn't start it?" He shook his head. "Do you have Mae with you?" Mali asked, searching for the third member to their little family over his shoulder._

 _"_ _I thought I left her with you." His eyes flashed with new worry as he turned to her._

 _"_ _I went out to finalize our escape transport deal, I left her in the room with Shirley our neighbor keepin' an eye on her. I just got back and found it like this, I thought you grabbed her before setting the blaze…" Mali's eyes filled with fear, "but if you didn't start the fire then…BOSH'TET! MAE! MAE!" Mali started to tear through the crowd, Yane right behind her as the horror of realization hit them. Mae wasn't with them and their house was on fire. They frantically pushed and shoved their way from one end of the crowd to the other in a matter of minutes but they did not find the small five year-old among them. Toward the edge Yane spotted Shirley and grabbed her shoulder. For a fourteen year old he was tall enough to look the woman in the eye._

 _"_ _Where's Mae?" He gripped her shoulders hard._

 _"_ _Mae?" The oldish woman was slightly confused. "Why would I know?" She asked. Yane grit his teeth in anger._

 _"_ _You were supposed to have been watching her! Where did you last see her?" He shook her as he spoke, rage evident._

 _"_ _When did I last see her?" The woman squinted her eyes in thought, then her eyes drifted toward the building while a look of horror started to take ahold of her features. With a strangled cry Mali turned toward the building and took off toward the front door._

 _"_ _Mali, wait!" Yane cried as he raced after her. "You don't have armor!" A line of police (a rare sight so far down from the Terraces) kept the large crowd away from the building, standing between them and the flames. A young woman close to the front caught her by the arm, seeing her intentions as she rushed toward the flames._

 _"_ _Please don't go in there!" The woman's blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail and her large green eyes pleaded with Mali. Mali yanked her arm out of the woman's grasp and dropped to her knees and squeezed through unnoticed, but Yane, who was much bigger, was shoved back by an armed guard. "Hey! I need to go in!" Mali heard him struggle against them as she sprinted in through the front door. The roar of flames engulfed her as she rushed for the stairs, the wood burning hot beneath her feet. Mali coughed as the smoke hit her lungs, lunging up the rickety steps, racing the bright flames that licked the plaster behind her. For once Mali was grateful for the poor living standards, the damp and mold in the walls buying her precious seconds._

 _Their apartment was on the third floor, and as Mali reached the landing, she was relieved to see it wasn't on fire yet, at least on the inside. She rushed to their apartment and threw open the door, the thick smoke making the room hazy. "Mae!" Mali called over the crackle of the fire. "Mae!" Mali quickly searched every room and under what little furniture they had but to no avail, she wasn't anywhere. "MAE!" Mali called in a panic, standing in the middle of the little girl's bedroom. Suddenly she heard a small whimper from the closet, and clawing it open, for she could barely see anything now, Mali bent down and dug into a small trembling pile of clothes on the floor. To her relief a small brown head, big eyes, and a familiar sunflower nightgown came into view and Mali quickly scooped the little girl up, crushing her into a hug. "Mae!" She cried, tears stinging her cheeks as they fell._

 _"_ _Mali." The little girl sobbed, her little arms clinging around her neck, familiar baby soft skin crushing her windpipe-Mali had never been so glad to be strangled. The small girl coughed and Mali looked toward the open apartment door to see an orange tinge starting to spread into the smoke._

 _"_ _We need to leave Mae." Mali looked at her little sister. Fearful big brown eyes met big fearful blue eyes._

 _"_ _I'm scared Mal." The little girl trembled in Mali's small arms._

 _"_ _Me too Mae, me too. But I'm gonna keep you safe, 'k? We are gonna make it." The small girl nodded and took hold of Mali as she swung her onto her back. "Hold on tight." The little girl nodded and tightened her grip, biting her lip determinedly. Mali ran from their apartment toward the stairs, but lurched to a stop as flames reached toward her like claws. I guess not down, Mali thought. She grit her teeth and started up the stairs toward the roof, the only other option._

 _She cursed the builders for not adding a fire escape as she bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The fourth floor was already on fire as she reached it, so she kept going, praying the fifth was still safe. For the moment it was when she reached it, although the smoke was especially thick here. Mali threw her arm across her face as she desperately looked for any escape. She knew she had eight minutes tops to figure something out or they were dead. She glanced out a window to see a firefighting crane starting to rise toward them, spraying water into the second story windows. If only they had a way down to that crane! Mali thought. She set Mae down on the bed of a room to think, her hand brushing the surprisingly clean sheets of the bed…wait, sheets._

 _"_ _Wait here Mae." Mali yelled as she tore out the door toward all the other apartments._

 _"_ _Mal!" The little girl screamed in fright as she saw her sister leave the room. Mali rushed into the closest apartment to them and tore of the sheets on all the beds, then moved onto the next apartment, and the next till she had the biggest bundle she could carry. She rushed back into the room and quickly tied the ends of the sheets together to make a makeshift rope, the heat of the approaching flames starting to suffocate the room. Mali threw open the nearby window and motioned to Mae who sat trembling on the bed. Then Mli stuck her head out the window and called down to the firemen, "Hey!" One man looked up with surprise, which soon turned to horror when he saw Mali leaning out the window._

 _"_ _Wait there, we will send someone up!" He yelled. Mali shook her head._

 _"_ _No good, there's not enough time! Can that crane get any higher?!" He shook his head._

 _"_ _To many budget cuts, this is the best we have!" Mali cursed._

 _"_ _I'm going to send my sister down to you!" She didn't wait for a response before popping back into the room and started tying a halter around the girl's shoulders and between her legs, making sure it was secure._

 _"_ _Mae I'm going to lower you to the crane below us, ok?"_

 _"_ _No!" The little girl clung to Mali. "I don't like heights!"_

 _"_ _I know, neither do I, but it's not so scary." The girl still shook her head. Mali sighed, they were running out of time, she could see the flames starting to curl their fingers around the doorjamb. "Remember that dream you once had, of flying?" The small girl nodded. "Just pretend that you have those wings you talked about, those great big white ones, and you're swooping around in the sky, free as a bird!" Mali smiled. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, you don't want to miss out, do you?" Mae hesitantly shook her head no. Mali wrapped her arms around her adopted sibling and gave her one last hug. "I love you Mae."_

 _"_ _Don't let go Mal, 'cause we both know I don't actually have wings." Mae smiled a bit._

 _"_ _I'm not going to let go." Mali shook her head._

 _"_ _And you'll be right behind me?" The small girl asked, eyeing the flames behind Mali's shoulder that were eating their way through the living room towards them._

 _"_ _I'll be right behind you." Mali lied, reassuring the girl. She knew entering the building that only one of them was likely to make it out alive, and she would do everything in her power to make sure it was Mae._

 _"_ _Ok." She gave Mali a small kiss and walked to the widow, Mali firmly holding on to their rope of linens._

 _"_ _You've gotta step out now Mae." Mali nodded toward the window. Mae trembled as she looked down then she straddled the window sill and slowly eased herself out, now completely reliant on Mali and the rope. "Keep your feet under you at all times Mae, now…and in the future." Mali smiled at her girl, taking in the sight of her sweet face peering at her one last time. "Remember that, little adventurer." The girl nodded and Mali slowly started letting her down. She stood near the window, keeping an eye on Mae as she held the rope, its length running around a bedpost where she had looped it and back out to where it connected with Mae. Mali gulped as she saw the fire approaching the bedroom door, smoke billowing in front of it._

 _Mali coughed as she bared her teeth at the incoming threat, determined to stay rooted to the spot till her sister was safe. She glanced out the window to see Mae dangling about a story down, still two stories away from the crane. The crowd had noticed the small girl and were now pointing and shouting, the police struggling to hold the crowd back. Mali sped up as the flames licked closer; blistering heat soaked Mali's clothes with sweat and stole the air from her lungs, but she held on-she would not let go. Mali looked out once more, Mae was dangling only a few feet away from the firefighters. Mali quickly lowered it a few more feet as one of them outstretched their arms to grab the girl. She sighed in relief as the firefighter's hands made contact and he slowly and carefully brought the girl into his arms. A cheer went up from the ground as the crowd watched the rescue._

 _Mali sobbed with relief as she saw Mae reach safety, dropping the rope from her hands, unneeded. Mae waved up at her with one small hand from the arms of the firefighter and Mali raised her hand back. Suddenly one of the firefighters started frantically scrambling for the controls, his ear listening to a comm device. Mali looked on in horror as the men scrambled to bring the crane down, dread starting to fill her throat as her eyes stayed glued on Mae. There was something wrong._

 _There was no warning, no sign, as great jets of flame exploded outward from the windows, engulfing the crane in a huge rush of destruction. The building rocked perilously as Mali screamed bloody-murder, ripping her throat raw as she watched the fire devour the crane, all sight of Mae lost as a huge wall of fire billowed up._

 _As she bent out the window, Mali felt her back start to scream in pain as the fire behind her started eating her shirt, a few long tendrils latching onto the cotton and catching it on fire. The thought of stop, drop and roll came dimly to her mind but Mali ignored the excruciating pain, her eyes desperately searching for any sign of Mae as the flames from the gas explosion receded back into the building, but there was only a blackened, empty crane bed and piles of twisted plastic and metal from the smoking remains of firefighting uniforms. Mali screamed again, from both pain and suffering as her heart was ripped in two. Finally the pain from her back became too much and Mali collapsed to the floor, rolling to get the fire out, sobbing the whole time._

 _She ended up on her stomach, her back feeling like it had split open to the spine, her body slightly smoking and her shirt in tatters. Mali didn't care what happened to her now, Mae was dead. Her light had been so quickly and quietly been extinguished from the universe. Mali couldn't summon the strength to stand, and maybe that was ok, she couldn't save Mae, so why should she try to save herself? Boots stomped on the stairs and the smell of blood and grenades filled her nostrils as a body bent down over her, but Mali didn't lift her head or acknowledge them. "Mali…" Yane's soft breath was in her ear, before something wet and dark was thrown over her and she blacked out._

Mali gasped as she jolted up in bed, her hands raking at her t-shirt, her back on fire as it remembered old wounds, coiled shots of pain shooting through her skin. Tears streamed down her face and Mali realized that she had been crying in her sleep. Quietly sobbing, Mali curled into herself, taking deep breaths as the pain and shock started to quietly ebb away. When the pain was down to a dull throb and Mali felt like she had sufficiently calmed herself down, she grabbed her hoodie next to her ready-to-go packed duffle and quietly let herself out the bunkhouse screen door, making sure not to wake Cadence. She started at a brisk walk around the yard, but soon she was running and lifting herself over the wall of the compound. Mali raced for the trees and finally under their protective bows and soothing glow of life Mali let herself go as she sobbed against a trunk.

She had not had nightmares about that night for a long time, but it seemed like no time had passed, they still did the same things to her. What scared Mali the most wasn't the dream, she had that dream many a time; it was her body's violent reaction to it. She felt out of control as she sobbed against the tree. Her thoughts and emotions swirling around like a giant black vortex around her. Mae had been Mali's and Yane's small little addition to their family only a few months after Yane had found Mali. Both young children couldn't leave the small girl where she was huddled outside the boxing gym they had been in. They had taken her home, washed her and fed her, then had learned her story. She had lived on a different level, far above where they were when her parents had gotten mixed up with the Blue Suns and had ended up dead because of it. Yane had frowned but there was nothing he could do seeing as it was a different branch. The small girl had been left homeless and within a couple weeks had found herself down here with nowhere to go and no one to support her.

It hadn't meant to become permanent, but Mae quickly stole their hearts with her chipper attitude and beautiful smile. Toward the end of Yane's involvement with the Blue Suns it had really been Mae who had sealed their indecision about getting out or not. Neither of them wanted Mae to grow up in a house under the shadow of the gang that had killed her parents. The night Mali had dreamt about, the night Mae died, had been the night they left the gang for good. Yane, being second in command, couldn't have just walked out on them, he knew too much. He'd had to kill the lower level's leader Forge to entrust total chaos for the mercenary gang so that they could slip away, and to gather any info the Blue Suns had on them to make sure they couldn't find anything out when they did reorganize themselves. Mali's job had been to secure transport for themselves and their few belongings, keep an eye out around their apartment for any trouble, and watch Mae till Yane got back. In the girl's mind, she had failed her family completely that night.

 _I'm scared Mal…_ Mae's small voice echoed in her head. I am too, Mali thought back as she slumped down against the tree, I am too.

 **Next Up: Mali pays Liara a visit**


	6. Chapter 6

Mali walked through the forest calming herself as the yellow tinges of dawn melted through the sky. She listened to the heartbeats of life around her as she waited till full dawn, and then she turned and went back to the encampment. The gate was open and Mali snuck inside, heading back to the bunkhouse as Cadence was just rising from her bed. "Wow, you're up early." The girl commented as Mali walked in the door. Without a word Mali pulled Cade into a hug, breathing in the scent of the small girl that she loved, trying hard to memorize this feeling so she could save it forever. "Jeez Mali, what are you doing?" Cade asked in surprise, the girls weren't usually this touchy-feely, even after near death experiences.

"I love you Cade, you know that right?" Mali asked, still hugging her.

"Ya Mali, I do. Now can you let me go? I feel like I'm about to puke from all this lovey-dovey stuff." The small girl replied, although for a moment she wrapped her arms around Mali too.

"I don't care, I want you to know that." Mali smiled. Cade shook her head and laughed.

"What has gotten into you this morning?" She asked. Mali hid the streak of sadness that shot through her.

"I'm just excited to leave, is all; are you all packed and ready? Did you remember your underwear and toothbrush?"

"Yes _Mom,"_ Cade rolled her eyes. "Let's go grab a bite before we leave and rendezvous with Oliver." Mali chuckled.

"If there's one place we can always find him it's going to be the food court." And sure enough there he was chomping on bacon and eggs in the mess hall with his green army duffle sitting next to him on the floor. The girls dropped their identical bags next to his and got in line for food, then sat down across from him.

"I wasn't expecting to see you all up so early." He smirked at them. Mali growled as she stabbed at a sausage, the early morning starting to get at her.

"Well if they hadn't scheduled the transport for eight freaking A.M. I probably would still be asleep." Mali bit back. Cade snickered.

"What happened to the good mood you were in?" She asked.

"It disappeared when my body caught up with my mind and I realized what time it was." Mali replied, gulping down some orange juice. Truthfully it was because she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep after her nightmare, but they weren't going to know that.

"Alright everybody, transport leaves in five!" The pilot stood up from where he had been eating at a table and made the announcement before throwing his food away and leaving the mess hall. In a frantic rush they all shoveled the last few mouthfuls of food into their mouths and then grabbed their packs and rushed onto the small surface freighter and buckled themselves into seats with their packs at their feet. Across from them Teddy and Sam sat down and smiled a greeting.

"Where are you all headed for your leave?" Oliver asked them. Teddy answered for them.

"Sam's going to Shanxi and I'm bound for Feros. What about you all?"

"All of us are bound for Thessia." Oliver replied. Teddy smiled.

"Explains why you are all so close-but Thessia? Why do you live on the asari home world?"

"We were a part of the NightWall program," Oliver explained, "the training base is there, and coincidentally all of our families also live there." Teddy's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"You never told us you were a part of the Nightwall program…wait…" He took in their appearances with squinted eyes and then he gasped, "Are you three a part of the Sentinel Six who destroyed the reaper Sojourner?!" He asked with excitement. Oliver smiled a little and Mali felt heat rise to her cheeks, she always hated it when someone recognized her.

"Yes, that's us." Cade butted in with pride.

"What?! This whole time I've been hanging out with celebrities? I can't believe it! Where are the other three?" He asked, looking around. Oliver shook his head.

"We are the only three that decided to continue our military careers, you won't find them here."

"Oh…" Teddy looked slightly disappointed but then brightened up and started chatting their ear off about how he was so impressed with what they had done and asked endless questions about the program. Two years ago the Alliance military had undergone a desperate plan to boost their dwindling numbers of N7's and had turned to the streets to find candidates- even if you didn't make it through the training, you still had a good chance of making Lieutenant in the Alliance military. The NightWall program had been designed for any recruits the Alliance had found that were under the legal enlistment age at the time of recruitment. They had to first pass the rigorous training there before being granted exemption from the age requirements of the N7 program. It had become infamous after a reaper husk, controlled by the previously thought dead Kaiden Alenko, had attacked and decimated the training grounds and taken captives to feed to Sojourner at her arrival. The Sentinel Six, six trainees from the camp including them three, had then attacked the reaper and saved the camp, and possibly the galaxy, from total annihilation. Their story had become legend these past two years hence and all six of the teenagers where respected and revered for their bravery and skill.

Word passed quickly through the ship that some of the Sentinels were on board and when they finally touched down in the terminal the three were stuck in front of the bus taking pictures and signing things for their comrades for fifteen minutes, before Mali ungracefully pushed through the crowd and they were free. They sprinted through the terminal toward the small electric shuttle that would take them to the connected docking bay area and they collapsed on the plastic chairs. "Ugh, I hate when that happens. Why'd you let it slip Oliver?" Mali glared at him as she panted. Oliver held up his hands in defeat.

"It just came out, you know me Mali, I'm a straight shooter-I can't tell a lie." Cade snickered.

"Well we might miss our ship because of that." She laughed. When the doors opened they rushed out and toward their ship which was docked, thankfully, only a few hundred meters inside the docking bays and scanned their omni-tool passes just in time before it closed. They rushed up the gangplank as it started to close and quickly found seats before liftoff. Once they were safely in the air they wandered the passenger's level till they found their room and then they quickly deposited their bags before grabbing lunch at the small restaurant on the cruiser.

"Now only two days of travel before we reach Thessia!" Cade smiled sarcastically, her face a little green. She suffered ship-sickness whenever she was crushed into a ship with a lot of people in it. Mali snickered from over her grilled cheese.

"Need some chicken noddle soup?" Mali asked sarcastically and Cade slapped her arm.

"Don't make me feel worse! You know how I get on public transport!" She glared. Oliver chuckled into his sandwich and sighed, enjoying this freedom.

"It's been too long since we had some leave." He smiled. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Two words," Mali replied, "HOT TUB." Oliver let out a laugh and smiled.

After two days of hot tubbing, movies, and eating unhealthy things they reached their final destination, having made a couple stops along the way at other space ports for other passengers. As they packed up their things and cleaned the candy wrappers from the floor Oliver and Cade contacted their families via omni-tool that they were arriving. Oliver turned to Mali curiously. "Who's picking you up?" He asked.

"I'm going to surprise her." Mali smiled.

"You devil!" Cade exclaimed, laughing. "She is totally going to hate that, you know!"

"Oh," Mali slyly smiled, "I _know_." When the ship landed they disembarked and they headed outside the pick-up/drop-off terminal where Cade's and Oliver's families were waiting. Interestingly enough, both of them belonged to families where they weren't related by blood. However as they climbed those stairs and saw the big welcome home banner and the group of smiling faces none of that mattered. Despite not being related, that didn't stop them from being truly family. All of Oliver's adopted little siblings rushed around him and tackled him to the floor while Cadence rushed in to hug Ara's parents, who had adopted her after the NightWall incident. Mali stood their smiling and watching until she was crushed from behind by two huge strong arms as Jacob Shepard lifted her up into a bone crushing hug. "Shepard!" Mali exclaimed with surprise.

"Welcome home my little N7!" He laughed as he set her back down and took her bag off her shoulder.

"How did you know I was coming?" Mali asked. He smiled.

"Somali, I am a Citadel Spectre, a Commander in the Alliance Military, my girlfriend is the Shadow Broker, not to mention that I saved the galaxy. I think I can find out if my daughter is coming home or not." The thirty-six year old man replied with a teasing twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Really, how?" Mali crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow, looking so much like Liara that Shepard had to laugh.

"Officer Joggerston let it slip over lunch that Oliver was coming home today, and I just connected two and two together, seeing as you guys travel _everywhere_ together." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh shut up, Cade is with us too." Mali replied, but a blush slowly creeped up her cheeks. Mali turned and waved goodbye to her two comrades before turning back to her father.

"Where to?" He asked.

"I need to go pick up my speeder from the holding office before heading over to Liara's."

"Alright," he nodded, "lead the way!" They walked back into the terminal part of the spaceport and headed toward the office.

"Liara doesn't know, right?" Mali asked.

"Of course not, that woman barley gets her head out of her research or schoolwork unless you're around. Be glad I'm around to add a little spice into her otherwise dull existence."

"You mean a little trouble?" Mali asked, knowing full well what happened to people when a Shepard was around. He chuckled.

"Tomato-Tomato. It's the same thing." He shrugged. They were quiet for a bit before Mali spoke again.

"You know I'm not actually an N7, right?" Mali asked quietly.

"I know," Shepard replied, "I heard what's happening, I'm sorry Mali." She nodded. He placed an arm around her shoulders as they walked and offered comfort as they walked. Mali remembered a time when she had dreamed about being in her father's arms someday, and she smiled slightly.

"Don't worry Shepard, it's not going to stop me."

"So," he changed the subject, "how long is your leave?"

"Four days left," Mali frowned, "then I go to the Citadel for new biotics training."

"I haven't seen you in eight months and we only get to see you for four days?" He sighed exasperated as they reached the office. He opened the door for her and they walked in, Mali stepping up to the counter, their conversation temporarily paused.

"Hello, I'm here to pick up my speeder." She spoke to the clerk.

"Receipt please." The asari pleasantly replied. Mali raised her arm over the counter and the asari scanned her omni-tool's glowing readout. "Somali T'soni-Shepard, spot 266B. Here's a pass to get down there." She handed her a small plastic card. "Have a nice day." They entered a door to the clerk's right and walked down the stairs to the parking garage where travelers could have their transports held while they were away.

"We should be happy, they were going to have me go directly there before Hackett said anything."

"Jeeze, I remember when they weren't so pushy." Shepard rubbed the back of his neck as they walked.

"That was before we got a spot on the Citadel Council." Mali grimaced. "Now everything is politics and business." They reached spot 266B and Mali smiled as her speeder came into view. It resembled a crotch rocket of the twenty-first century, but with thrusters and hover-tech instead of wheels. It glistened all silver and chrome in the parking garage light, one of the only things Mali had allowed herself to splurge on with her amassed fortune from her omni-color business. Liara had been strictly opposed to the idea of Mali riding around on one of those 'god-forsaken death machines' but Shepard had been behind her the whole way, even considering buying himself one until Liara reminded him he could barely afford his apartment.

Mali swiped the card through the electronic lock and the gate popped open, allowing them access inside the caged parking spot. Shepard handed her her duffle and Mali swung in onto her back before picking up her black motorcycle helmet and giving him one last hug. "Dinner tonight?" Mali asked. He shook his head.

"It'll just be you two, I've got a few pressing matters to see to tonight with the Alliance council, but I'll come tomorrow night-me and Liara had dinner plans then anyway."

"Alright, I'll see you then." Mali smile before mounting her bike and starting it up, filling the parking garage with its mechanical purr.

"Be safe Mali." He smiled with his hands in his pockets. Mali smiled before sticking her helmet on.

"Never." Mali chuckled, teasing, before waving goodbye and riding off, eager to see Liara. She made her way through the parking garage and out of the spaceport, swooping down to skim the tops of the trees as she headed towards home. Mali reveled in the feel of riding her bike again, enjoying the speed and power. She turned on the radio, music filling her helmet-she flipped around the channels until something caught her ear.

" _-and they think they can just send kids out there?"_

 _"_ _Bobby, we both know they are more than just kids-they've passed N7 training for goodness sakes!"_

 _"_ _Have they? Do we really know if they've been fully prepared? For my part I don't like the idea of a kid in charge of negotiating peace treaties with hostile aliens, or even if they can at all? I don't believe they yet have the experience to draw upon to make wise decisions on the battlefield."_ Mali frownd as she listened.

 _"_ _They are kids, are we really going to send children out to fight our own battles? Can they shoulder that kind of responsibility? We aren't even mentioning the ethical implications of sending kids off to war. I hear that there is even a fifteen year-old among their ranks."_

 _"_ _But the turians send their children to military training at age fifteen-"_

 _"_ _Their turians! We are human! Are we now going to look toward other species for examples on how to raise our own young? Next asari are going to be flying our Alliance spaceships-"_ Mali turned off the radio in disgust. The rest of the hour long trip was spent in silence as she fumed over the accusations they had brought to them. On one hand they were right, Mali couldn't deny they were children, but on the other hand, she knew what she had been through-and what they hadn't-and knew war like the back of her hand. She saw the ocean come into view ahead of her and breathed in its familiar scent as the roar of waves crashing filled her ears. Mali spotted the familiar small white house a few minutes later and with excitement starting to build in her stomach she touched down next to Liara's hovercar on their landing pad.

Mali dismounted and took a moment to gaze out at the ocean stretched before her eyes as the sun started to set, tinging the water with red and gold. It felt _so_ good to be home. Mali removed her helmet and placed it on the bike, before walking down the small steps to their front door. She quietly let herself in with her home key-Liara still believed in real key and tumbler locks from her archeological days- and set her bag down just outside the kitchen as she made her way to where she knew Liara would be-her office. The door was slightly ajar and light was pouring out of the small crack from the otherwise dark house.

Mali breathed in the scents of her home as she walked down the hallway to the office door before quietly peeking in. Familiar light-blue crests came into view as Liara was bent over her computer with her back to the door, typing away on her computer. Next to Liara was a blue glowing sphere hovering over a console, aiding Liara with whatever she was doing. It looked like Victoria, their AI, hadn't alerted Liara to Mali's presence, probably seeing her intention, and Mali gave the AI a mental high-five. Mali felt a smile grow on her face as she drank in the sight of her best friend and confidant for a few moments, not having seen her for eight months. Then, as she was about to rush in and jump Liara the lithe asari stood from her chair, and Mali quickly shrank back from where she had poked her head in.

"Vic, I'll be back in a moment. Please continue surfing through that data I sent you-you are doing a great job." Her voice was just as soft and melodious as Mali remembered it to be.

" _Of course Dr. T'soni_." The AI responded. Mali quickly dove behind the bathroom door as Liara vacated her office and made her way down the hallway toward the kitchen. Mali snickered into her hand and decided to put her stealth classes to work. She crept down the hallway after the asari and peered around the corner to see Liara in the kitchen preparing herself some tea through the small window in the wall that separated the kitchen form the living room.

Mali dropt to her stomach and slithered across the white carpet of the house, using the furniture as cover. Then she tip-toed till she was at the door of the kitchen, and slowly crept in. Liara did not turn as Mali inched towards her; a giddy feeling growing in her stomach as she came to within an inch of the older being. As she drew in breath to yell Liara's name in her ear the asari suddenly flared up with blue flames and Mali found herself trapped in stasis.

"Don't even think about it, Somali Avon T'soni-Shepard."

 **Next Up: Mali moves back in!**


	7. Chapter 7

Liara laughed as she turned around to face her; a huge smile broke out on Mali's face as their eyes met. "Awww, how'd you know?" Mali asked as Liara released her and brought her into a hug. It was warm and soft, and everything that Mali missed about Liara. The asari smelled like paper and forest, just like Mali remembered.

"I saw your bag by the door, you idiot," Liara replied teasingly, "you left it right in the open for all to see while you decided to sneak around and try to scare a heart attack out of me." Mali snickered as she let go of the asari and stepped back.

"And I got so close too." She faked disappointment.

"Have you eaten?" Liara smiled, warmth radiating from her eyes.

"Not yet, but you don't have to cook me anything, I can just eat some left-overs." Mali opened the fridge door, but Liara pushed her out of the way and started grabbing ingredients from the fridge.

"Nonsense-you look like you haven't eaten in years-let me cook you a proper meal. Victoria, why didn't you alert me to Mali's arrival?" The asari asked as she started to bustle around the kitchen. Mali propped herself up onto a counter and enjoyed watching as Liara threw some veggies into a frypan on the stove.

" _Since Mali did not alert us of her imminent arrival I assumed she was attempting another one of her poorly planned guerilla warfare missions-what do you call them?-oh yes, 'pranks'."_

"And I thank you kindly." Mali smiled. "Remember, me and Vic are as thick as thieves." Liara rolled her eyes as she stirred the veggies.

"She is such a great help around here when you are gone-I forget how bad an influence you are on her."

"Don't look at me," Mali sniggered, "whatever mean streak she has she picked it up from the streets."

 _"I'm sorry, but it is impossible for an AI to possess a 'mean streak'. I do not have a body to place the mean streak on."_ Mali snorted.

"It's just a figure of speech Vic."

"Why don't you go put your stuff in your room while I finish up here." Liara spoke to Mali.

"Ok." The girl hopped down and Liara watched with a smile as the girl swung her long duffle onto her back and disappeared into the hallway.

"It's good to have her back Vic." Liara said.

" _Yes it is."_

Mali opened her door and was greeted by the familiar features of her room. Unlike the rest of the house, were most everything was white and everything was organized as the asari preferred, Mali's room boasted color and a feel of slight dis-order, much to Liara's annoyance. When she had first moved in the room had been characterless with not much furniture, but Mali had quickly remedied that when Liara had adopted her. A string of soft multi-colored lights hung above the long window that graced the far wall of the room. When Mali walked in they lit the room with the soft hues of orange, reds, blues, and greens. In front of her her full bed with a white comforter and pillows was neatly made, but the corners of objects shoved carelessly underneath was testament to her double standards where Liara didn't care to inspect for cleanliness.

To Mali's direct right floor to ceiling white bookcases stretched the length of the wall to her right and they curved around till it met the wall with the window. Across from the bed, on the other short side of the rectangle-shaped room a small white desk broke the floor to ceiling bookcases briefly, and a small plush chair sat in front. The books that adorned her walls varied from history to philosophy to fantasy, and everything in between. Denied the pleasure of reading for most of Mali's lived life, anything she could get her hands on she read. Mali slumped her backpack near a wall and collapsed on her bed, staring at the twinkling galaxy ceiling above her. A message beeped on her omni-tool and Mali checked it-it was from Oliver.

 _Rockhouse gym tomorrow? 8?_

 _Sure_. She sent the message and closed down her omni-tool.

"Mali!" Liara called. The teen sighed and made her way back to the kitchen, where Liara was placing two bowls of rice, chicken, and veggies on the table, along with that infamous tray of sauces.

"One of my favorites! Chicken stir-fry!" Mali exclaimed as she sat down and dumped yoshida sauce over everything. Liara chuckled and sat down next to her.

"I find it hilarious that all your favorite foods are so simple Mali: Stir-fry, nachos, anything with barbecue sauce…" Mali shrugged.

"Well when you keep it simple I find you get more out of life." Mali replied as she mixed her bowl up. Liara looked at her funny. "What?" Mali turned to her.

"Sometimes the wisest things comes out of human mouths," Liara shook her head, "it still surprises me every time." Mali smiled and took a bite.

"Yum!" Liara gave a pleased hum at Mali's appreciation of her food as she dug in as well. The table was quiet for a few moments before Liara spoke up.

"So how long do we have?" She asked, putting down her bowl. Mali wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before answering.

"Um…four days." Mali watched as Liara's eyes darkened. "It's all Hackett could give me. I'm starting new biotics teaching with someone at the Citadel soon."

"They didn't like my lessons?" Liara asked, crossing her arms.

"No, no!" Mali waved her hands apologetically, "It wasn't that, it's just…well…they don't agree with some of the things you taught me about biotics."

"You mean I didn't teach you enough ways on how to blow things up." Mali winced as Liara slapped her fork down on the table and rose, striding towards her office.

"Liara, please, it's no big deal…" Mali jogged after her. "Don't do anything you'll regret." She winced. It turned into a tense silence as Liara typed at her screen for a few minutes, then she sighed and turned her terminal off, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Subject Zero."

"What?" Mali asked, confused, from where she stood leaning against the door.

"You are being trained by Subject Zero or Jack, as she chooses to be called, an ex-criminal and now a biotics teacher for the Alliance at Grissom Academy. Before you she was considered the strongest human biotic out there. If she's left that post it must be for something important…"

"And you found this out how?" Mali asked.

"I hacked into the Alliance mainframe."

"Liara! That's a crime!" Mali exploded. "I could have just told you in a week who it was when I got there!"

"I wanted to know before-hand who they are shipping my daughter off too, and who they think is better than me. It's not at all any consolation to be upped by an ex-convict, psychopath, and very emotionally challenged woman." Mali raised an eyebrow.

"You have history?"

"I worked with her during the Reaper War, but I kept my distance-she had a fowl mouth and a disregard for manners that I found irritating. The best part is-this woman _loves_ blowing stuff up-a perfect role model for my teenage daughter!"

"Liara," Mali frowned, "I know what you have taught me-all life is precious. That is why I must go so I can learn how to better save people's lives with my biotics. You must understand that while you are a great teacher, you don't have a soldier's sense of duty to the cause, and your biotics reflect that. The Alliance needs me to be an efficient weapon and the only way there is through military biotics training." Liara turned to fully face Mali from her computer with her hands in her lap as she spoke.

"That's what I'm afraid of Mali-to them you are just a tool they expect to fix their problems-but you have feelings and a heartbeat. You are not a weapon, you are a person, and if you put a person through enough fire they will come out burned." Mali involuntarily flinched at Liara's analogy, her back suddenly itching.

"It's clear I can't sway you Liara, but you must agree to the fact that either way I can benefit from more training. I'm sure they wouldn't trust this Jack with their new biotic hope unless they were certain she was stable." Liara sighed.

"Maybe, but the Alliance isn't the greatest at defining 'stable'. They recruited _you_ back in the day." Mali slightly smiled.

"True, but they straightened me out in the end."

"I straightened you out," Liara said with steel in her voice, rising. She still stood a few inches taller than Mali, even though the girl had grown; she made an imposing figure when she talked authoritatively like that with her eyes flashing. "And don't you forget that. If you come back with a new-found love of killing small animals be sure that I _will_ do it again." Mali was sure she was getting a little taste of what Matriarch Benezia had been like, and also of the true power that Liara rarely showed. The power that ripped tanks to shreds like butter and blasted legions of enemies into dust. She slightly gulped as she replied.

"Yes Liara." The asari nodded at her and walked back to the table, intent on finishing her dinner. Mali sat back down next to her, feeling like she was sitting on pins and needles, and picked up her half-heartedly, not really wanting to finish her dinner. Liara's reaction to Mali's announcement was strange, it wasn't what she had anticipated at all. Usually the asari was calm and composed, but a quick peek in her direction showed the asari stabbing at her chicken forcefully. Obviously something was bothering her, or she wouldn't be so worked up. Whatever the reason, this was not how she had pictured her first evening home.

"Is something bothering you Liara?" Mali tentatively asked. Liara sighed and she put her head in her hands on the table. "Hey, no elbows on the table." Mali quietly teased, easing some tension from the asari's shoulders. Liara made a face, but took her elbows off anyway.

"I feel like I still barley know you." Mali's eyebrows rose, surprised. "They are always carting you from one place to another and you are barley home, where you should be. You've been through enough Mali-you deserve a break." Mali frowned. "Sometimes I think you are avoiding me." She quietly added.

"This is by my choice Liara-I want to be an N7, no matter how long it takes. I'm not trying to be away so much."

"Why do you want to be one so bad? Because your father is one?" Liara accused harshly, frowning and startlingly Mali with her outburst. However Mali pushed back, intent on defending herself.

"No! I want to because it's my dream!"

"You don't have to do this for approval Mali-you don't have to prove anything!" Liara countered.

"It's not approval!" Mali denied. Liara shook her head.

"You've been pursuing this more relentlessly then anyone I know, so relentlessly in-fact that you are making Shepard uncomfortable with your level of dedication-like you are searching for an answer or something and you think that becoming an N7 is that answer! You've achieved more than anyone else your age could ever dream of, yet still, you push yourself! Why?" Mali turned her face away, not looking at Liara. How had she turned the conversation on her? Mali thought. Mae's face flashed inside her head, and guilt rose inside of her stomach. Before she could stop herself she blurted out what she had been thinking.

"I'm not good enough." Mali whispered, the echoes of Mae's laughter ringing in her ears.

"What did you say?" Liara asked.

"I'm not good enough!" Mali yelled, her eyes on fire as they met Liara's. Liara reeled back at the ferocity of Mali's outburst.

"And you think becoming an N7 will make you better?" Liara said that as more of a statement then a question, but Mali answered anyway.

"Why wouldn't it?" Mali stood up and took her bowl to the kitchen, scraping out the left-over food into the garbage and then placing it in the sink.

"There's something more to this that you're not telling me." Liara replied, as naturally intuitive as ever.

" _No there isn't_." Mali slammed her cup down in the sink, using that tone in her voice that let Liara know she was treading on shaky ground. However the asari chose to ignore her warning and push on.

"There is Mali, I know you."

"Maybe you should just stop poking your nose into things that don't concern you." Mali spat, surprised at her own venomocity. "I'm going to bed." Mali turned and stalked to her bedroom, shutting the door. Liara sighed and cleaned up the dinner before laying down on the couch, rubbing her temples. So, the intuition that she had felt from their vidcalls was right, there _was_ something going on. However it looked like Mali wasn't ready to share, and Liara wouldn't push her, having learned from past experience.

The next morning Liara woke with a resolve to fix things with Mali, seeing as they only had three days left and she hadn't even had a proper conversation with her for eight months. She woke early and decided to make her a pancake breakfast knowing the way back in to her good graces was through her stomach-just like Shepard. She hummed as she cooked, thinking about the first time she had met the grown up Mali-the girl storming into a council meeting in only a hospital gown and fire in her eyes demanding to know the fate of her friends. Liara shook her head and chuckled, Mali hadn't changed a bit in the last two years. Still so stubborn and reserved, keeping what was going on inside her a secret.

Speaking of her, she should have been up by now-zombifying on the couch at least. Liara wiped her blue fingers on a towel to dry them and then walked to Mali's closed door, knocking on the girl's door with the back of her knuckle. To her surprise it opened slightly as she put pressure on it; it wasn't fully closed. "Mali?" Liara called softly as she poked her head in. Mali's bed was neatly made-but empty-and as Liara walked fully into the room she realized it was empty as well.

" _Somali left this morning."_ Vic spoke up.

"What?!" Liara exclaimed. "Did she have her stuff with her? Did she leave?"

" _She had A bag with her, but I do not know the contents. And since you already know that she is not in the house I must assume that you are asking whether she left this house with the intention of vacating the planet, which I cannot answer."_ Liara clutched her crests in frustration and paced the room. A slamming door caught her attention and Liara rushed out to the living room to see a slightly sweaty looking Mali kicking off her shoes with a black gym bag in her hand.

"Mali!" Liara rushed to her, stopping only a few inches away, making Mali reel back in surprise, almost tripping over her own discarded shoes. "Where have you _been_?!"

"Uh…the gym." Mali replied, dumfounded at Liara's reaction to her arrival. "You have nothing against working out, right?" Liara turned her eyes to the heavens with a relived sigh, then looked down toward the confused girl.

"No, no, of course not. Just excuse my overreaction, it was nothing." Liara swept passed her back into the kitchen, turning the stove off. "Are you hungry? I made breakfast." Mali took in the pile of pancakes, and dishes of eggs, sausage and fruit and saw them for what they were. An apology. She smiled.

"I'm always hungry." Mali replied with a lopsided grin. She looked so comical to Liara that the asari laughed.

"Don't I know. Come dish up!" Mali took her plate to the table, but Liara motioned toward the deck. "Why don't we eat outside today? It's very nice out." Mali shrugged and followed Liara to their small veranda that made a small platform before descending to the real porch that held the pool. They settled side by side on a small couch that looked out toward the ocean with their meals. Silence ensued for a while as they ate, both enjoying the breeze, until Mali put down her empty plate with an appreciative sigh.

"I swear Liara, sometimes I think you over-feed me."

"No way," the asari shook her head, "with the amount of activity you use your body in you should be eating probably more than four-thousand calories a day." The settled into a companionative silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts, their thighs and shoulders lightly touching. Mali felt the tenseness of Liara next to her, her trained eye picking up on her body language as it was trained to do. Mali knew she needed to apologize, yet she couldn't bring herself to-she didn't even know herself why she had turned so aggressive when Liara had probed her last night.

Her feelings were confused as it was, and Mali was afraid that if Liara found out about Mae that she would become angry that Mali had never told her about her-and also she would find out how Mali failed, and how it ended in the death of a close one to her. Mali was afraid to admit to her own fears-fears she had tried to ignore but were becoming increasingly present in her mind the more she tried not to think about them- that she wasn't good enough. However, Mali had to get one thing straight between them. "Liara," Mali spoke up softly, "did you think I left you this morning?" Liara winced and turned away.

"I have to admit that a small part of me feared a little, but I should've known-"

"-Liara-" Mali interrupted softly.

"Yes, I was afraid." Mali bit her lip, guilt washing over her in waves. She turned to the asari next to her and grabbed her hand and held it in her own.

"I would never for one second think about leaving you like that. Liara, no matter what, I love you." The asari wrapped her arm around Mali's shoulders and pulled her close to her side.

"I should not have pried, I know there are things in your past that are still very painful for you, and I know that if you need someone you know I'm right here." Mali nodded into her warm shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes, both soaking in the view and the moment, before Liara stretched and stood. "We are having company over tonight, so we need to clean the house and get ready." She smiled down. "Your room definitely needs a good cleaning." Mali frowned.

"It's not that dirty!" She defended. Liara gave her a critical stare.

"Mali if it gets any dirtier people might start mistaking your room for a landfill."

"Home sweet home, I guess." Mali sighed exasperatedly as she stood up. "Let me just shower first." Liara nodded and they both walked back inside. Liara went to start cleaning up from breakfast but Mali stopped her.

"You go do what you need to do, I'll clean this mess up." Liara raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe N7 training was good for you anyway." She joked lightly. Mali returned her smile and started breaking out the Tupperware. Mali heard the shower turn on and smiled to herself.

"Vic, can you turn on my Sunday Mornings Mix." Mali requested. Almost immediately the old playlist of mixed jazz and dubstep that Mali had put together began to play. She listened to the music as she cleaned, drumming on the pots and pans to the beat as she dealt with the dirty dishes and singing along when there were words. She was currently singing along to a remastered version of 'Aint No Mountain High Enough' when she heard a barely audible chuckle. She whirled around to see Liara in her bathrobe, quietly snickering into her hand at Mali's antics. "What? You've never seen a human sing and dance before?" She accused.

"You call that singing?" Liara quipped with a crafty smile.

"Hey!" Mail exclaimed, throwing a dirty dish towel at the asari, who dodged it.

"Don't think you can get me that easy!" Liara replied mischievously.

"That was just me warming up." Mali cracked her knuckles menacingly. Liara had to stifle another snicker.

"Right, and I'm a quarian." Without warning Mali lunged at Liara, flaying another rag like a whip. And thus the event forever dubbed after as 'The Epic Dishwasher War' was born. It involved a lot of rags, water, and biotic usage. By the end of it both were soaked and smelled like the inside of a dirty pot.

"Great, just more to clean up." Mali turned in a circle, taking in all the destruction. The couch was tipped on its side as was the table, turned into forts for their small war. Wet spots and dirty rags littered the carpet and random things were thrown around the room, accidental casualties of the game.

"You think that is bad-I have to take another shower!" Liara frowned. Mali snickered and then broke into a run towards the bathroom, tossing her rag to the ground as Liara rushed after her.

"Not before me!" She cackled as she heard Liara let out a surprised grunt as she slipped and fell on the towel.

 **Next Time: Mali vs Samara**


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the delay! I only have one excuse in the form of one dreaded phrase: MID-TERMS

That night after endless scrubbing, polishing, and vacuuming the guests started to arrive. Apparently, when Shepard had told Mali that they had had 'dinner' plans he hadn't meant just him, Mali and Liara, what he had meant was that they had planned an anniversary dinner for the day they had stopped Saren. As such everyone from his old hunting days had been invited over for dinner-the farthest one having travelled all the way from Rannoch. Liara had been cooking all day while Mali had been cleaning, and she had been sharing stories with her of their old fight the entire time-most she had already heard many times before.

The first to arrive was, of course, Shepard himself in his usual cocky manner. He waltzed right in with a bottle of expensive wine under one arm, trodding in with his dirty boots over the just mopped floor. "You're late!" Liara scolded as he set the bottle of wine down on the kitchen counter, "they will arrive any minute now." Shepard winked to Mali who was lounging on the couch, trying to regain her strength from the siege she had just undertaken against Liara's 'dirty' house.

"The second mouse gets the cheese, dear." Shepard replied, grabbing Liara's waist and pulling her in for a chaste kiss, Liara letting out a surprised giggle. Mali raised an eyebrow from her view on the couch. She had known things were getting serious from the chats she'd had with them and from what she'd seen of their interaction on the vidcalls, but she hadn't thought it was THIS serious. The slight touching of hands or the intimate way they would exchange looks during conversation had given her clues to their advancing relationship, however this was the first time she had seen them kiss.

Liara glanced Mali's way, taking in her stringy hair and sweats, still wrapped in Shepard's embrace and tsked. "Somali, please go put something on that doesn't make you look like you just got run over by a truck." She gently reprimanded. With a tired sigh Mali heaved herself up off the couch and down the hallway, hearing more giggles from Liara as she went. A feeling she didn't like was starting to grow in her stomach but Mali pushed it down. However the sight of them wrapped up in each other's arms oblivious to the world around them had bothered her no matter how she tried to shake it. She shed her sweatpants and shirt and stepped into a white loose fitting thin sweater and tight dark blue pants. Then she tried to fix up her appearance but no amount of make-up could quite cover the bags under her eyes or the tired droop of her chin.

She stretched out on top of her bed and closed her eyes, thinking about her troubling reaction to Liara and Shepard's new cuddling. Why did it bother her so much? She supposed part of it was probably she just wasn't used to seeing it, having been away for a long time. But as her feelings reared their ugly heads again at that thought, Mali knew it went deeper. She knew for a fact she didn't like the fact that she hadn't been around. But there isn't anything I can do, she thought, sighing.

Through her closed door she heard the doorbell ring and heard Shepard greet whoever it was that had arrived, but she didn't feel the urge to get up and go up. She burrowed a little deeper into her bed, reveling in the comfort, and she was tempted to crawl all the way under. Her eyes began to grow heavy and she sighed as she lost the will to get up all together. She felt like she was floating in limbo, hovering between the worlds of sleep and awareness. Then a pair of big scared brown eyes flashed through her groggy mind and like she had been doused with cold water she jolted awake. Sometime in her sleep she had turned onto her stomach and was laying with the side of her face pressed against her comforter. Her body was tense and Mali found her eyes scanning the room for threats, out of habit, but she knew the only ones were those that lay inside her own head.

There was a quiet knock on her door and Liara poked her blue head into the room, seeing Mali on her bed. "Hey, you've been in here for almost an hour-everyone's arrived. Did you fall asleep?" When Mali didn't immediately answer, just stared into space with a distant look, Liara stepped fully into the room and sat on the edge of her bed. "Hey, are you feeling sick? Do you have a fever?" She pressed her palm to Mali's forehead but it was just the normal temperature.

"I'm ok Liara." Mali whispered, "Just a little tired." Liara frowned.

"That seems to always be your answer nowadays." Mali pushed herself up with a grunt and slid to the edge of the bed next to the asari.

"I must be growing again." Mali replied. The asari smiled a little.

"Your eighteen Mali, by this age human females under most cases have achieved their full growth potential." Mali shook her head.

"You read that in a book, didn't you?" Liara shrugged.

"You know me, I am first and foremost a professor and lover of information-and a certain human girl I find fascinating." She smiled, lightly tickling Mali's side. "Come on, we have guests. I know it's not what you were expecting, but Shepard has been talking about it for months and when you came back I didn't have the heart to disappoint him. I promise we can have a day with just the three of us tomorrow." On the inside Mali's mood slightly darkened, she didn't know if she could take more one-on-one Liara and Shepard smooch show. She shook her head, pushing that thought away as she got up, she shouldn't think like that.

She walked out of her hallway into what seemed to be a small sea of people, most of them familiar as all of Shepard's crew were a tight bunch and gathered at least a couple times a year. She was immediately taken into a bear hug from her Uncle Garrus, the big turian picking her up like she weighed nothing. Then Mali spotted Joker sitting on the couch making jokes to Legion, who was not getting them, and went over to give him a hug as well. In the past couple years his disease had gotten worse and now he mainly got around by hoverchair, although he was still the best pilot in the Alliance-or so he argued. Tali was next, the now Admiralty Board member being the furthest to have travelled. Ashley and her husband were also there, longtime friends of Mali herself, and she exchanged warm hugs with both. Their two year old son Kaiden ran between her legs, the dark haired boy having inherited everything from his looks to his energy from his mother.

Hovering slightly to the side Mali spotted Kasumi in her dark clothing and hood and she nodded her way, the woman having been the one to name her. At the snack bar Mali was unsurprised to find Wrex and Grunt bickering over the kebabs. Thane's son Kolyat was also present, much to the surprise of Mali and she was eager to talk to the drell. He had come for his father, who had died a few years back from his illness, and also because he said he owed Shepard a great deal. Jacob and his wife were deep in conversation with Shepard himself, standing in a small bubble off to the side. Liara was taking to the only other asari in the room, whom Mali could only assume was the Justicar Samara, whose eyes followed Mali uncomfortably.

After the heat became too intense Mali finally settled outside on the balcony, watching the red waves crash against the cliff as the sun set. That's when she heard a pair of familiar footsteps behind her and she smiled. "Miranda." Mali greeted her as the woman joined her at the rail, leaning with her back against it.

"Somali, how have you been?" She asked with a smirk.

"You probably know better than I do." Was Mali's sardonic reply. "How's Ms. Finch?" Miranda laughed a little.

"Still active, even in her old age."

"And you?"

"Me and Kasumi have been holding up-been on several missions. I've been getting better, getting back into the swing of things."

"Yet still waking up in cold sweats in the middle of the night from bad memories, right?" Mali joked harshly. Miranda sighed.

"Mali, all the people in that room probably still wake up from time to time like that. And so do you." She answered. Mali flinched. "Yes, I know." The woman noticed her reaction. "And I know why." She looked her in the eye, Mali meeting her dark ones with surprise. "I looked into your life when I recovered, I wanted to see what had transpired after I saved you from that ship. It took some digging but I eventually found everything." She looked at her with compassion. "The things that happened to you is nothing to be ashamed about Mali, you had to deal with things that no one that young should see. I don't blame you if you aren't sleeping-and Liara won't either." Mali was surprised Miranda had guessed her situation so quickly. "It's not good, it makes your biotics unstable. And with your particular biotic strength that's dangerous."

"How'd you know?" Mali frowned. Miranda ran a hand through her long black hair and laughed.

"The air between you screams tension and BOTH of you wear your feelings on your sleeves, but for the life of you can't see the feelings of the other." Mali hunched her shoulders and looked out to sea.

"Whenever…whenever I see or hear something that reminds me of that place, it's like it sends me back and I'm living through those events again. Even after two years of being off them it still sometimes feels like I'm still running the streets. I don't want her to feel like she's not enough-that this family-is not enough to cure me."

"You're not sick," Miranda replied," whether you like it or not those years of living there are a part of who you are-what happened there shaped who you are today-scars and all-just like a battlefield stays with a soldier for the rest of their life. Anyone in there can relate to that Mali. Everyone has demons they fight with. You just have more than most." Mali snorted.

"That's hopeful. Thanks." Miranda shrugged.

"Hey, I'm not a shrink. But if you ever get tired of here-"

"I know-I know-your offer still stands…" Mali interrupted. Miranda smiled.

"And it always will. Sooner or later you're going to need our help Mali, and when you do you know what SOLVE is going to ask for." A loud clap came from inside and they turned to see Shepard gathering everyone up for the meal that was laid out along the long kitchen counter. It was a mix of both human, turian, and vegan options to accommodate everyone there-ending up quite a display of Liara's culinary talents. The crowning glory of the table was the huge ham that both krogans were currently salivating over. Miranda and Mali went inside and joined the small throng of people as Shepard stood to make an announcement.

"I know I've never been one for speeches or attention-"

"Lies!" Someone very turian sounding coughed loudly, making many of them laugh loudly. Shepard pacified them with a few 'settle down' waves of his hands.

"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted," He sent a glare toward Garrus," I just wanted to thank everyone for showing up on this important day in all our lives. Although some of you here hadn't joined our fight yet, this day still affected all our lives. Some way or another our motley crew grew member by member, and we didn't just become strong, we became a family. We lost some members on the way, and all of us didn't come out unscathed, but in the end we pulled together and did what was right, and even saved a couple lives in the process. So this day is for all of us, to celebrate what we have achieved and also to remember our sacrifices. So, um…thanks guys, that's it. Let's eat!"

"Here! Here!" Wrex cheered, slightly leaning on Grunt. Mali got the distinct feeling that the krogan was more or less already drunk from the booze brought to the party. Shepard's parties with his old comrades had been known to get a little rowdy (after all they all were still under the age of forty Liara and Samara excluded), but the girl was surprised to see it was already starting to happen so early. Indeed even Shepard's cheeks were flushed slightly pink, and Mali believed that alcohol had somewhat played a role in his speech-making. A line more-or-less formed for the food, Kasumi using her skills to cut everyone in line to be the first to get at the kebabs and Joker almost running people over with his hoverchair in his haste to get at the ham-Liara's cooking skills were well appreciated by all there.

As Mali started to meander toward the food a firm hand was placed on her shoulder and guided her past the kitchen and out the door. Mali turned in surprise to see the Justicar staring down at her with her arms folded across her chest in her black form fitting one-piece she was wearing. She stared at Mali like a scientist would stare at a frog they were preparing to dissect, and Mali bristled under the unjust treatment. She hadn't traded many words with the asari, she could count the number of conversations they'd shared on one hand, so her taking her out to speak alone was majorly out of the ordinary.

"What's going on?" Mali frowned, her hands clenched at her sides. Her stomach was growling and she was hungry, what could she say? The asari didn't answer, but started to pace around her, taking in Mali's build. Her eyes followed the blue alien with confusion till in a deft movement the asari poked her in the abdomen. "Hey!" Mali objected.

"You're strong, but your muscles lack power." The asari replied, as if almost to herself. "And your small, barely the size of a kitten to the eyes of a Justicar." Mali frowned, confused.

"You're not so bulky yourself, you know." Mali replied, taking in the asari's slim form in her one-piece.

"I have dedicated decades to the development of my physique-I may not look strong, but youngling, I AM strong. Even Liara, with her strength, is weaker than the weakest Justicar." Mali smiled.

"I highly doubt that. She's the strongest asari biotic I know, and that includes you Samara." The asari raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"A bold thing to say to an elder, youngling."

"What is this about?" Mali asked, her patience waning.

"As you might've heard, the Justicars have made quite an opposition toward your installment as an N7. I did not come today for just a social visit, I came on behalf of the Justicars and asari to see if our objections are justified-which right now I believe that they are. You are little more than a newborn baby by our standards-a baby with great potential-but young none the less and therefore it goes against our code to allow an innocent into battle."

"A baby?" Mali scoffed, "maybe you need to stop evaluating me by your species and start evaluating me by mine-I am a legally enlisted soldier and a warrior in my own right."

"Maybe you should realize that I am nearly a thousand years old and have centuries of knowledge to draw upon. I am likewise surrounded by asari Matriarchs who are also that old and that have come to the same conclusion I have. Even though you are a Shepard, you are not ready." Mali crossed her arms.

"Fight me." Samara blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"You heard me, fight me." Mali replied.

"Are you crazy child? You cannot hope to win against me." She scoffed.

"I don't have to win, I just have to fight good enough to change your mind." The asari sighed, but a slight smile graced her lips.

"This is not wise, but it would be a good way to evaluate your biotic prowess…besides, I like your spirit. You remind me of my daughter Morinth. She was always challenging me to a fight when she was a youngling like you."

"Then follow me." Mali led her down the hall and up the stairs to the hoverpad. Inside, Mali's heart was beating faster than club music on a Friday night. What was she doing taking on a Justicar? She would be squashed like a bug. However an iron hard determination to prove them all wrong grew in her chest. She was tired of people thinking she wasn't good enough, she was going to show them, heck, she was going to show herself, that they were all wrong. She led her down the steps of the hoverpad and out about a hundred feet away from the house in the clearing that acted like extra parking. It was in this area that Liara had saved Mali from a kidnapping by Kaiden's agents so long ago. They faced each other a few feet away.

"I will not hurt you too much, it would go against my code, but don't expect me to go easy. I've never learned how to hold back." Mali smirked at the asari.

"Me neither." She pulled her lucky credit chit out of her pocket and this time it was Samara's turn to smirk at her.

"Still using your mnemonic to activate your biotics? Your skills are more lacking then I thought." Mali calmly flipped her coin to activate her biotics and blue flames burst into existence from her skin, licking brightly into the air, as her irises shined silver like two twin moons. The Justicar in front of her looked slightly surprised when she saw Mali's eyes.

"Interesting…" Was all she said, then her body rapidly lit into flames as well and she sent a pulse of biotic power hurling at Mali. Mali hurled her body to the side as the mass effect ball shot past her ear. It missed by a hair and slammed into a tree behind her, the tree making a huge ripping and cracking sound as it was drug out of the ground by the small black hole. Not waiting to give her a reprieve, the Justicar sent another more powerful singularity her way and Mali felt herself being dragged into the sky the singularity pulled her in. She clawed at the ground with her hands as her feet lifted above her head and toward the dark ball of glowing energy. Her hand caught onto a small root buried under the gravel and she held on as the singularity started to lose steam. If she could just hold on long enough then…a throw suddenly hit her full force and Mali and the root were separated with a loud crack as the shockwave hit her skin and sent her spinning into the air.

She landed on her stomach a few yards away, her body hitting the ground painfully with a loud thump. "Mali!" She heard Liara's voice yell her name.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" She heard Wrex scream over the noise. With a groan she opened one eye to see Liara rushing from the stairs to the hoverpad, burning with biotic power, followed by Shepard and the entire rest of the party. Miranda was watching silently from the railing of the landing spot. They must have been drawn outside from the noise, Mali thought.

"Stay back!" Samara warned, holding up a hand. "This is between us."

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGH-OOF!" Wrex was pushed against the wall by Garrus who smacked the air out of him, annoyed.

"What is going on?" Liara demanded, placing herself in the line of fire between Samara and Mali, who was a few yards away from the rest of them, still on the ground.

"This is not your fight, scientist, this is between us! Now please remove yourself from here before my code forces me to do it for you!" The Justicar threatened.

"Liara…" Shepard placed a hand on the glowing asari's shoulder, "let them battle."

"What?!" Liara turned toward Shepard in surprise, "You're just going to let her beat up our daughter?!"

"I don't think Mali is going to be the only one getting beat up today." He nodded over her shoulder to behind her, and Liara turned. Mali was picking herself up off the ground and as she turned to face them Liara could see that she had a long cut above her right eyebrow and small ones all over her hands. Her clothes were smeared with dirt and a hole had been ripped into her jeans, but what struck Liara most was the defiant glare burning in her eyes as she pulled herself to her feet. Bright flames danced around the girl thicker and brighter than the asari had ever seen them before, and Mali's eyes glowed so brightly that it was hard to look at them. "Samara's not going to kill her." Shepard admonished.

Silently Liara stepped back but her shoulder stayed tense under Shepard's hand. Mali walked a few steps closer, back toward Samara.

"How does fighting a Justicar taste Mali? Ready to give up yet?" Samara taunted. Mali wiped the blood away from her split lip and smiled, wincing slightly at the pain.

"Not even close."

 **Next Time: The Shepard fam' goes on a hike...**


	9. Chapter 9

Mali's body was thrumming with adrenaline and power; all of Shepard's old crew tensely watched on. "Are you going to try and vanquish me?" Samara spoke harshly, "or did you drag me out here to waste my time?" Mali knew that she wouldn't last for long against such an accomplished biotic, it was as hopeless as trying to escape gravity, however Mali knew that she might stand a chance against her in hand-to-hand. Slowly a plan started to form inside her head- it would be risky and involved the potential for a lot of pain, but it might work. Mali smirked at the asari.

"I don't have to 'vanquish' you, I just have to prove myself a threat to you." The asari laughed. "Launch!" Mali yelled, using a biotic throw behind her like a booster and with a bellow she launched herself rapidly at the Matriarch. Samara's eyes slightly widened in surprise before she erected a barrier around herself when Mali was feet away, but the girl was prepared. She formed a powerful singularity above the asari's head and as she slammed into the barrier, the asari was lifted off her feet into the air above her shield and exposed. Mali fought the pain and directed a throw at the momentarily stunned Justicar, pushing her down painfully into the gravel a few yards away close to the tree line. Samara smiled grimly as she picked herself up off the ground, purple blood welling at a small cut on her cheek, yet she was hardly fazed.

She sent a throw Mali's way but the girl was already in motion towards the asari and she dodged the attack as she launched herself again at the asari, this time landing a solid kick to the Justicar's abdomen. Except instead of falling onto her butt like Mali thought she would, the Justicar only grimaced and grabbed Mali's ankle in a counter-hold and flipped her onto her back. Mali made a fast recovery and rolled out of the way as the Justicar's heal came crashing down towards her neck. She zipped back up to her feet and quickly lunged a powerful onslaught of blows onto the asari, but she blocked every one. Mali used her biotics to add power to her punches, her fists and arms glowing blue, finally managing to break through and land a solid one to her jaw. The justicars head snapped back, but she was quick to retaliate and threw her fist out, which Mali had to duck under to avoid.

Taking a risk, Mali put all her biotic strength into her palms and struck at the asari's abdomen again with all her might. This time the asari was thrown back and Mali took her opportunity. "Suspend!" She yelled out, throwing her hands out to either side. Immediately both her and the asari were suspended inside a strong mass effect shield, floating helplessly.

"Strong for a human," Samara panted, "but not strong enough." Mali's eyes narrowed to slits.

"We'll see." She raised her palm and closed her eyes as they were suspended. She focused and called to her mind the living pulses of the trees around her. She had finally gotten the asari close enough. Mali summoned their life forces into her fingertips and stretched them out. Four long roots ripped up from the ground with a mighty ripping sound and black dirt sprayed into the air. They waved in the air like seaweed in water, waiting for a command. The asari craned her neck to see the sight behind her. She whistled, impressed.

"I had heard rumors that you possessed this power, but I passed it off as an over exaggeration…" Mali happened to glance up at Miranda at that moment, and witnessed the pleased look that flashed across her face.

"It's very real." Mali replied absentmindedly, concern blossoming over what she had just seen. Miranda caught Mali looking at her and the look disappeared under a stoic mask. She was startled when a push forcefully hit her gut, and Mali cursed herself for losing focus. With a cough she turned back to the fight at hand and once again summoned the roots, taking hold of the asari's four limbs. With a rapid snap she retracted the roots and they wrapped themselves around the trunk, trapping the asari under layers of thick roots against the trunk of a tree near the edge of the clearing. Mali's suspension blinked out of existence and dropped Mali to the gravel, but she caught herself on one hand and knee.

Mali slowly pushed herself to her feet and brushed off her hands, in no rush as the Justicar was securely contained. The whole landing clearing was silent in shock as the party absorbed what had just happened. Mali walked forward till she was staring slightly upwards at the trapped Matriarch. Mali raised her arm and pointed her hand at the asari's head in the shape of a gun. "Dead." She said. The asari looked down at her bindings with amazement.

"How do you do that?" The asari asked.

"I can feel and control the flow of energy inside of plants-Liara theorizes it has to do with my higher frequency biotics."

"Yes, I did sense that your biotics where flowing at a higher 'frequency' than what a normal biotic's would be on. However, youngling, I am far from dead." With a powerful blast she threw Mali back and then with a technique that Mali couldn't comprehend she sliced the roots that bound her in one clean slash that flashed purple. The asari landed lightly on her feet and strode confidently over to the young human on the ground. Mali tried to summon some sort of power within her but her biotic power was nearly spent-that last trick having taken a lot out of her. The Justicar towered over her, but Mali was surprised when her biotic flames extinguished themselves and she held out a hand to the girl. Mali took it, looking confused, and she was pulled to her feet. 

"How did you do that?"

"Break through your restraints? I used one of the oldest tricks in the book-Precise Defragmentation."

"What?" Mali asked.

"Exactly." The asari nodded with a satisfied smirk, "that is the point. You have much to learn. There are many basic techniques that lay _inside_ the realm of normal biotic usage that you have not even _heard_ of before. Although the technique I used was a forgotten technique that only the Justicar order still practices. Precise Defragmentation allows the biotic to manipulate a thin line of rapidly shifting mass effect fields that enable one to 'slice' through anything-it is almost like a warp but on a smaller, more precise, scale."

"So it's like a mass effect blade…" Mali took it with awe.

"Exactly, and there will not be any danger of breakage or splintering because it is made of energy." Mali looked at the asari with a quizzical gaze.

"Why did you show me?" She asked. Samara smiled.

"Because you showed me a power I had never seen before. The only adequate response would be to return the favor. And also you have impressed me, young one. You still need growth and a little bit of pruning, but you are fierce. Not just anyone can go against a Justicar and manage to stop them, even if it was just for a while." Overcome with gratitude at her words, because she knew Matriarchs did not just hand out praise, Mali balled her hand into a loose fist and placed it against her forehead, then her heart and extended it toward the asari in the traditional asari sign of respect. The Matriarch smiled warmly at the sight and touched her palm briefly to her fist to end the formal exchange, accepting the offered respect.

"Liara is teaching you the ways of her people well." She commented. Mali nodded her head once again.

"So does this change your mind?" Mali asked. The asari frowned, but placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It certainly caused me realize at least some of our accusations could be a little miss-placed, however this will need consideration." The asari saw Mali's frown and shook her head as she chuckled. "Don't be angry Somali, you have commended yourself well today and you can only get stronger. You cannot change the galaxy's mind in just one day." The girl sighed deeply but nodded her head in understanding. Together they walked back to the small crowd where Garrus, Wrex, Grunt, and even Tali, were cheering for her. Wrex slapped her on the back, making a great cloud of dust puff up from Mali's clothes, and she coughed as she got the wind knocked out of her.

"She truly is the daughter of a Shepard!" He grunted in his gravelly voice. "If she was a krogan I would challenge her myself!"

"Why do I have to be a krogan?" Mali bared her teeth and butted heads with Wrex in their teasing way. He laughed a guttural laugh as he put his arm around her.

"Only so it would even the odds so I would have a chance to win!" He replied fondly.

"Alright everyone, back inside for desert! I think we've had enough excitement for the evening." Shepard stewarded them all towards the front door. Liara looked behind her to see the Justicar standing still where they had left her, watching the crowd receded back into the building. Liara walked back to her kinsman and frowned.

"Are you not coming back inside?" She asked. Samar shook her head.

"No, I feel as if I have overstayed my welcome by this display." Liara rolled her eyes.

"It's hardly your fault-I know Somali is brash."

"Even so, there is work that must be done, all is not well in the galaxy." The younger asari frowned. "Yes, I can see you know what I am talking about-the strange energy fluctuations we have been sensing."

"I attended the asari council meeting where they mentioned it-have they tasked the Justciars to look into it?" The other asari nodded.

"Yes, and things are not looking good. Actually if you have any data on the subject that could be helpful, it would be much appreciated. Liara pulled up her omni-tool and transferred all she knew over to the other asari who received it with a grateful smile.

"From what I have seen they are springing up all over the galaxy, randomly." Liara commented. Samara nodded.

"Yes, and that makes them unpredictable-therefore dangerous. A few have even caused some minor earthquakes and one even caused an intense lightning storm-thankfully most of these phenomena have happened in remote low-population areas."

"Where are they coming from?" Liara asked. Samara's eyes flashed. "What?" Liara questioned.

"That's just it, no one knows for sure, but a theory is starting to surface from the gathered data and it doesn't look good-the energy fluctuations seem to be coming from the stars of the systems." Liara frowned.

"This could potentially be dangerous. All these stars across the galaxy, becoming dangerously active. I wonder what is causing it?" The Matriarch shook her head.

"That's what I'm trying to find out. I mustn't keep you any longer Liara, and thank you for the data."

"No problem." Liara replied. The older asari chuckled at the flippant response.

"It seems the humans are teaching you their culture as well." The asari chuckled. Liara blushed. Samara climbed into her speeder and lifted off, giving a slight wave in departure. Liara waited till she could no longer see the hovercraft before going back inside to rejoin the party. As she stepped inside she was greeted with the sound of boisterous laughter and she smiled when she saw that Grunt and Miranda were locked in an intense arm wrestle with the whole of the party surrounding and egging them on, Joker yelling the loudest.

The asari took a moment to close her eyes and suck in the ambiance of the memory she was cataloging. "Hey." She felt a warm touch of a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes to see Shepard next to her, smiling warmly down at her. "What is my studious asari girlfriend thinking about?"

"Hello Shepard." She smiled, leaning into him. His hand wandered down to her waist and he pulled her in close.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked. Liara gazed out at the scene in front of them.

"Just that, we've come so far, despite it all we actually made it through. Yet I can't help but think that it could all be so easily ripped away from us-everything-again. It's happened too many times before. I feel uneasy in this false sense of safety. The Reaper war was seventeen years ago, yet sometimes I feel as though it will never fade into the past to where it should be."

"Hey," Shepard hand glided smoothly over her crests in comfort, "Don't think like that, what we have going here is good, and nothing is going to take it away. If they try, I'll just shoot 'em with a few well-placed bullets from my pistol." Liara chuckled and sighed.

"I just never want to lose anything that is precious to me ever again." Shepard looked her in the eye.

"I can't promise you that you won't, but I _can_ promise you that we will make the most with whatever time we are given. Look over there Liara." He pointed to Mali who was just coming back into the room, having changed out of her dirty clothes for some sweats. Liara frowned in distaste at the inappropriate party attire, but she did not think that was what Shepard had in mind. "Look what we made. Mali is proof that good can come out of evil and that the impossible can still happen. She is our living, breathing reminder of that. I know you didn't actually carry her in your womb but without you Mali wouldn't be here-you saved her life back in that mass relay-and she loves you like you are her mother. You are the one who set her straight and saw her on the right path, who knows where I was at the time. You dealt with every attitude and every meltdown and was there to comfort her through every injury." Not every injury, Liara thought, thinking of when she had abandoned the young girl after the kidnapper had shot her.

"She is a testament to your ability to heal, and inspire good, in others. She is _our_ daughter, and we made her together." Mali flopped down on the couch, totally exhausted, but got right back up again when Garrus challenged her to an arm wrestle, which she accepted, of course. Her competitive smile was radiant as both struggled for dominance. Even when she was tired she was still going, Liara chuckled.

"I feel the truth in your words Shepard, thank you."

"Isn't it about time you called me Jacob?" Shepard asked. Liara hummed a pleased sound and wrapped into his embrace.

"I believe so…Jacob."

That night after everyone had left Liara, Shepard, and Mali sat around in the living room, exhausted from the long day. "I vote tomorrow we lay around." Shepard yawned, his arm wrapped around Mali's shoulders.

"I second that vote." Liara agreed from her place across from them, where she was slouched in the armchair. The asari was drained after cleaning up the mess from their massive party.

"I know what we could do…" Mali said.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"There's this mountain I've been wanting to hike..." Both adults groaned.

"Didn't you get enough of that during the Blackout?" Shepard questioned.

"Ya, but I'm better from that now, and I've been dying to do this for sooooo long, it just I'm never around…" Mali trailed off strategically. The war hero and (unofficial) asari commando saw right through the ploy.

"Seriously, you're going to use that against us?" Liara pleaded. Mali snickered.

"Well is it working?" She asked. Both adults sighed and answered in unison.

"Yes." They groaned.

The next day saw the trio up bright and early, heading out to the mountain trail, a sunny day surrounding them. "This was so not a good idea," Mali panted as they finished the first switchback, "I don't think I can make it to the top." She was already lagging behind the two adults by a couple yards.

"Oh come on Somali! You big baby!" Liara called over her shoulder from where she was blazing up the path. A good night's rest had restored both her and Shepard's energy and both were eager for the family adventure.

"Hey, I took on a Justicar yesterday, give me a break-my butt is sore."

"Well I bet Samara isn't even tired from your fight." Liara laughed as she saw Mali scowl, the teasing comment having ruffled her feathers a bit.

"She probably is already doing another secret mission, probably something that has a lot of shooting and fighting." Shepard added, further antagonizing his daughter. "And look at you, already complaining before we've even finished the first mile." They heard an annoyed growl behind them. Laughing, they continued up the steep trail for a half an hour before Shepard called a breather. Setting down their packs with a huff Liara opened a canister and took a long drink as Shepard looked back down the trail. Mali was nowhere in sight. "Wow, she must really be tired."

"Huh?" Liara looked at him over the rim of her bottle.

"Mali, she's not behind us. She must be further down the trail."

"Maybe we should wait here for her?" Liara replied.

"Nah, we just got away from all the complaining."

"What if she gets lost?" Shepard raised an eyebrow toward the blue asari.

"Seriously Liara? Our daughter passed N7 training. If she can't follow this one trail up the mountain then I done know how she got through."

"I guess you have a point, but I still think we should wait."

"We are probably going to be waiting here a long time." Both adults laughed a little and then Shepard picked up his pack. "Come on, she'll be fine."

Mali bent over the large tracks that she had spotted off to the side of the trail, studying them. She doubted that Liara or Shepard had seen them the way they were practically running up the trail, but she had seen the deep impressions as she had rounded the bend. They were huge, resembling those of a cougar or bobcat, almost two feet across in width and they were very deep-hinting at a hefty sized animal. What concerned her most were the elongated deep gouge marks that extended from each pad-claws. They were almost eight inches across and seemed to be of sturdy thickness. The tracks led up the trail towards the summit, crisscrossing the path with no regard for the steep switchbacks in long bounds. Mali grabbed a bit of dirt from the inside of the large paw print and her eyes crinkled in concern when the moist dirt clumped in her clenched fist, indicating that the tracks were fresh.

Slinging her pack onto her back, Mali decided to follow and investigate the tracks. She veered off the rail deciding to follow them directly so as not to lose them, and started scrambling up the steep switchback, cursing as dirt and sticks fell into her eyes and hair. After only climbing a couple of them, Mali had to sit and take a breather. She gulped down water from her canteen and wiped her forehead. It was going to be impossible to continue how she was going, that was for sure. She had only gained a hundred feet or so in elevation and she was already tired. A part of her wanted to give it up and just move on, but Malik curiosity was getting the better of her. Then an idea struck her. There was a good chance that this animal was filled with eezio, like almost all life on Thessia. If so, Mali could find it with her biotics.

Firing them up, Mali closed her eyes and reached out, sensing the life around her. There were mostly only small organisms like insects and small mammals around, and as always, their variety and sheer numbers surprised Mali. Further up toward the summit Mali sensed Liara's bright pulse rising swiftly toward the summit. Even further up, Mali sensed a few mountain goats and plants but it was mostly barren. When she was about to give up and end her search, Mali suddenly felt a massive energy signature pulsing at the edge of her biotic vision. Focusing on that, Mali concentrated and zoomed in on the source, her mind filling with its life force. It was deep and feral, and the pulse was strong. It was currently bounding up what seemed to be a steep cliff face near the top of the mountain. Very near to where she sensed Liara was.

 **Up Next: Mali plays cat and mouse!**


	10. Chapter 10

"Well, we made it!" Shepard called as he crested the summit, the wind whipping at his clothes. It was another half an hour later and they still hadn't seen hide nor hair of their little blonde solider and it was starting to concern him, but he didn't let it show for Liara's sake. He was starting to think they should have heeded her advice and waited for her to catch up.

"Whew, this was a hard one." Liara crept cautiously to the edge of a rocky drop-off and peered out at the view. They were surrounded with a three-hundred sixty view of forest and distant ridgelines of other mountains. The blue sky and white clouds where being swept along by a stiff cold wind that made her shiver. The summit was only a hundred feet across or so, and was quite rocky. Rugged stone poked up everywhere; the highest points of the summit were made out of completely solid stone. In fact, they had scrambled up and over many boulders along a steep rocky path to get here.

"It's weird we haven't seen any hikers yet, I would have thought we would have seen at least one on such a nice day." Liara shrugged and moved from the cliff, nocking several pebbles over the edge with her boot, and sat down next to where Shepard was eating his sandwich from a plastic baggie.

"Sometimes you get lucky." She shrugged as she fetched her own lunch from her bag. It was in a thermal container and as she pulled off the lid the wonderful aroma of ham filled the air. Shepard's mouth started to drool as he took in the huge slab of ham next to the assortment of veggies and fruits from the left-over kababs. Liara laughed at his expression, then pulled out another container from her bag and handed it to him. "I thought you might want one." Shepard quickly stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and took the container with an appreciative nod. Liara surveyed their surroundings with a sigh, keeping an eye out for a blonde head. "Where in the world could she be? She wasn't _that_ far behind us."

"I guess we will just wait for her here." Shepard replied over a mouthful, or two, of ham.

Mali inched her way along the small path, squeezing herself as close to the rock as possible. On her right was a solid wall of rock that stretched as far up above her head as she could see, and to her left was empty space. Mali had been making her way up a particularly rock part of the trail when she had felt the energy signature suddenly veer sharply to the left, deviating from the general direction of the summit. Going against her better judgment Mali had left the trail and followed the pulse of hot energy till she had stumbled upon a steep cliff. One minute the forest was there and the next it was cascading down in a waterfall of brown and green next to a solid wall of rock. Mali had thought she could go no further till a survey of the area found a small outcropping trail, barley a foot and a half wide that hugged the steep rock cliff and curved around a bend out of sight. That path had led in the general direction she wanted to go. Mali had bucked up her pants and started on the small path to find herself here, fifteen minutes later traversing a particularly tricky part of the stone trail.

A small landslide had pushed dirt onto the trail, blocking all but six inches of the trail, and Mali was having to shimmy across with her face pressed to the side of the rock face and her arms splayed, grappling for purchase and balance. Her backpack and heels of her boots were hanging out into empty space, Mali's toes the only thing connecting her to the ground. Heights, it's always heights, Mali thought. It was only a few feet long but Mali was taking no chances and took it slow. The rock was rough under her fingers, giving purchase, however she was still hanging over empty space. About halfway across, with the tinkle of stone hitting stone, a wave of small pebbles clattered down onto her head from somewhere above and Mali cursed as one hit her painfully on the head. "Bloody pebbles!" Mali growled in frustration and continued to inch along before her feet finally found the wide trail again.

Shaking the dirt from her hair she continued on for several minutes, the blaze of the mysterious animal's energy getting ever closer. As she traveled, the silence surrounding her became disturbing. Her own breathing was the only noise that was being carried on the air; there was no chatter of forest animals or sounds of activity and life. The area was completely dead, and she understood why as she rounded a bend in the small trail.

The rocky trail led to a small outcropping of rock that jetted out from the rock face before her, forming a natural platform of sorts. Piles of dark rubble littered the ground around it like the sad leftovers of a volcanic eruption. What captured her attention, though, was the huge, dark entrance of a tunnel that led down into the interior of the cliff. As she cautiously got closer, for the energy was emanating from within, the powerful stench of rotting meat and animal musk made her gag into her coat sleeve. It wafted out of the blackness like a hideous prelude to the thunder hidden within. Mali knew without a doubt that something terrible lay before her.

A part of her wanted to go back, to get Shepard-she could sense them only a couple hundred yards or so above her- yet her curiosity stopped her. If she left to get them now, whatever was within might leave and she knew she could never corner it again. It was now or never. With trepidation Mali descended into the mouth of its den, for she was sure this is what she had stumbled upon. Below her she could feel it had settled down much like a dog would, tearing into and absorbing a quickly fading energy source that belonged to whatever poor creature it had caught. Males nose wrinkled at the thought-whatever in was it ate it's prey while it was still _alive._

She activated her biotics when she got too far down for sunlight to reach, the blue flames providing the light she needed. When she looked around however, she wished she couldn't see. Decaying bodies of prey long ago consumed littered the trail that declined steeply into the rock. Most were small, like a rabbit or beaver, the thin bones crunching underfoot, however a terrifyingly large number of prey was big. Mountain lions, bobcats, deer, goats, and with horror Mali could not mistake the pile of torn bloody cloth and discarded hiking shoes for anything other than what it was. Her feet momentarily froze, as momentary terror overtook her, but her sense of duty to find out what this thing was kept her going. Now it was personal.

She clipped the straps together on her backpack, making sure it was snug to her body, and pulled out her large hunting knife from its thigh sheath. With her biotics aflame she continued down the dark cavern, every sense alert. As she continued on, Mali avoided looking at any more of the dark piles, bile rising in her throat as she passed each one, thinking about what it could be. The drip of water was her only companion for many minutes as she navigated the tricky path, it was winding and the footing was fragile because much of the ground was shale.

A large growl alerted her that she was getting close, making her flinch at its suddeness. It was deep and rabid, the animal was wild for sure. She readied her knife, although she doubted it would do much against such a great beast, if it's paw prints where any indication of its size. She could sense that it was merely a few feet ahead, hidden by a well-like protrusion that obstructed her view. Mali sidled up to it, and bracing herself, she peered into the inky blackness. At first, all she could see was a massive dark blob that lay curled on the ground, but then it shifted and the breakfast that Mali had eaten was thrown up onto the floor. She wiped her mouth and glanced back as the varren, for that was what it was, tore another chuck off of the deer it held between its paws and gulped it down amidst a puddle of blood and anything else that the was currently spilling out from the carcass.

Mali was captivated because this was unlike any varren she had ever seen. It was easily four or five times bigger than any varren she had ever seen. As tall as a horse and then some, it was a big bulky mass of muscle and blue and white fur that was matted with dirt and blood. It's massive size seemed to fill the small cavern and tower over her. It's jaws were like two iron rods, easily snapping bone as it devoured the deer, it's teeth like razors and bigger than her knife by six inches. She shuddered as it threw the now leftovers away from it with a single powerful flick of its neck and then started licking it's paws to clean them. She gave it one last fearful look and decided it would now be a good time to leave before it sensed her presence. Having doused her biotics earlier before approaching the beast, afraid that it might see them, Mali had trouble navigating her way back without them.

She hadn't gone ten steps when her foot struck a loose stone, making a loud clatter that bounced around the tunnel. With a primordial fear she didn't know she could possess, she turned and glanced behind her. A dark, bloodstained muzzle protruded from behind the wall she had hid behind and she watched with horror as it took in a large drought of air, no doubt smelling her scent. Two beady eyes followed the muzzle around the bend and locked on her. She shuddered as they made eye contact, her heart freezing as she met with intelligence and cold cunning masking hot rage that boiled just beneath the surface. She could swear, looking back, that she had seen a grin stretch across its muzzle.

"Oh goddess…" Mali breathed. In one giant bound it launched itself at her and it was all she could do to get out of the way. Her back slammed against the far tunnel wall as she lost her footing on the shale in her rapid movements, and she momentarily lost her breath. The varren took the opportunity to swipe at her with its claws, having quickly adjusted to her dodge. It's claws raked over the front middle and lower portions of her torso, shredding her shirt, and Mali gasped as her body exploded into fire. She forced herself to endure the pain and duck however, when the varrens snapping jaws followed it's paw and closed around the space where her neck had been moments before.

She rolled past it's body and sprang to her feet, running up the tunnel to gain some space as it tried to figure out where it's prey had gone. To her dismay she had only gained about ten yards when it figured it out and it's head whipped around to face her. It's body followed and soon it was scrambling awkwardly after her, it's bulk making it difficult to run on the loose shale. It let out a frustrated roar as Mali started gaining distance between them, and for a moment Mali thought she might get away, but then it gathered it's legs underneath itself and jumped an impossibly long distance, rushing at her like a torpedo. It's jaws closed hairs away from her back and Mali let out a whimpering shriek as she stumbled forward onto her hands and knees a few feet away, panting. The varrens growled again and Mali turned around in fear as it got back to its feet and prowled slowly closer, preparing for the final blow. She coward under its massive gaze, primal fear dominating her senses. This was unlike any predator she had ever faced; it felt more like an equal than an animal.

Her eyes shifted around for any possible escape and her eyes landed on the thick stalactites hanging from the tunnel ceiling. With a yell and a fierce biotic throw she broke the them from their place and they fell, slicing the very air, but she had misjudged and they crashed to the ground in front of the varren instead of hitting it. However it startled the approaching beast long enough for Mali to get back onto her feet. She took off down the dark passage again, vainly trying to get away from the monster as it came after her. "Holy Hades!" Mali panted, safe for the moment as it was further down the hall, having lost sight of her in the crash. She knew there was no way she could outrun it in open territory, it was so just to big. One of its longer strides could cover several yards. She needed to get to someplace where she could make its size a disadvantage, or somehow wound it so badly it would hopefully scare it off. A grim plan started forming in her brain, but like all her plans it carried great risk to herself. However, it might be her only chance.

She stopped in the tunnel when she found a suitable place with an abundance of stalactites on the roof and sufficient cover provided by a few small boulders nearby. Mali quickly took off for her pack and laid it in the middle of the path, under the teeth of the tunnel, and quickly searched for her container of lunch that Liara had made for her. The scent of ham filled the space as she pried open the lid and laid both on top of the pack. She also slapped some medi-gel over her wounds to try and mask the scent of her blood, which was seeping out of the gashes at a concerning rate. Then she quickly sprinted to hide behind the boulders, knowing that the varren was no doubt close behind. She only had to wait a few seconds before it appeared. Mali tried to quiet her breathing.

It approached her backpack slowly, sniffing the air. It's eyes were confused, as if wondering how this had just appeared, but underlying that was an unquenchable hunger burning in its eyes that scared Mali to death. Just being close to the monster again terrified her. There was something in the beast that made every instinct, every nerve in her body scream with fear. Her body recognized this as the perfect predator and killing machine, and eons of humans fighting and surviving against these types of monsters had ingrained into her very genetic makeup the righteous fear that had kept them alive.

It's nose dipped closer to the meat, the small size of the container and the huge size of its muzzle making the whole picture look funny; for an absurd moment Mali thought it might not be able to fit itself inside the container, but then it's tongue flicked out and the meat was devoured. The moment the ham disappeared it's scent stopped masking the scent of Mali blood and the varren's head whipped toward her as it smelled her. Mali raised a trembling hand and as it took a step forward she threw all she had at the ceiling, completely shattering it and making it rain boulders and stalactites. She had not only broken the stalactites off, but she had purposefully caved the roof in too so that there was some no way the varren could avoid the falling debris. She made a small biotic shield over her head as the tunnel started collapsing around her.

Mali watched in satisfaction as a stalactites pierced one of its front paws and heavy boulders began to bury it. The varren howled in pain and it's furious eyes landed on her, chilling her to the bone. It lurched after her and Mali had to spring back as its jaws snapped at her as the dust began to settle, but it was stuck under the heavy rubble. Mali stood a few feet away, panting from her exertion. Taking down that portion of roof had been harder then she had expected, but then again, it _had_ been solid rock.

Suddenly with a giant heave, the varren miraculously started pulling itself from the pile of rubble in was half-buried under and Mali stomach lurched with fear and disbelief. Its eyes stayed locked on her as it slowly started to dig itself out and Mali turned to run. Suddenly a huge cracking sound split the air and made them both pause. Above them, a huge fissure split the ceiling and rapidly spread down the tunnel in both directions, out of sight. A rumbling filled the cavern and with a sickening feeling Mali knew the place was coming down. She had inadvertently started a chain reaction. Without a second glance Mali took off towards the entrance of the tunnel with the varren snapping at her heels.

A huge rumble shook the rock beneath Shepard and stopped his eating and Liara's pacing. It vibrated up through the soles of his boots, travelling upper his spine and making his teeth chatter; it didn't stop. "What is that?" Liara was leaning against a rock for support as another tremor shook under their feet. Shepard jumped to his feet in alarm as a crack split the air and thin spider-web cracks started appearing in the stone beneath them.

"Liara I think we need to get off this mountain." Shepard started packing up their stuff into their backpacks.

"What about Mali?" Liara frowned, "I'm not leaving till she gets here." Shepard sighed and looked at her.

"Liara, Mali isn't coming."

"What?" Liara exclaimed.

"She should've been here by now, she wasn't that far behind us and it wouldn't have taken her almost an hour to catch up even if she was far behind-this isn't Mt. Everest. If she isn't here by now she's not coming and something must be wrong. We need to go look for her." Liara looked like she was deep in thought for a moment as she digested his information, and then she reluctantly nodded.

"I can't argue with your logic, but where should we look for her? This mountain is huge." Shepard nodded behind her shoulder and Liara turned around to find a thick cloud of what looked like smoke billowing up above her from below the cliff's edge.

"I think to start we should find out where that rock dust is coming from. Knowing our daughter, she probably has something to do with this." The couple shouldered their packs and started back down the mountain, carefully picking their way down steep boulder-ridden trail. After several minutes of maneuvering down in silence, Liara spoke what had been on her mind.

"Do you know that Jack will be teaching her?" She asked.

"Yes, I was informed two days ago as one of the senior N7's. We keep up with all the recruits." Liara frowned, disappointed to hear what she had been expecting.

"I had hoped you didn't know, or had objected." Shepard stopped and turned around.

"Why?" He asked. Liara sighed.

"All her life your daughter has only known two things—fear and war—her whole life Shepard. She has never had a life outside of it, and the Alliance is only going to make it worse."

"Liara, seriously? How can you believe that after all the Alliance has done for you? They have been faithful to me for years…" Shepard tried to argue. Liara held up a hand to silence him.

"Do you really believe that Shepard? Do you think that they would create potentially the greatest weapon known to the universe and then just leave it laying around after their done with it? Have you even thought of the implications of handing your daughter over to them?" They had come to a small plateau and Shepard turned around to face Liara again; he had learned a long time ago never to turn your back on the enemy—or an upset girlfriend.

"What would you have me do?" He sighed. "Liara, as much as you want to blame me or the Alliance for this it really is all because of Mali. She dictates how fast she goes through the program—some people take six years or more—and she decides what she wants to become. Ya the Alliance will help with that in any way they can and try to drive her in the direction they wish her to go, but this girl has nerves of steel and ultimately it's up to her. What's happening is up to her—it's all _her_. So if you're looking for someone to blame, look at her! No one is forcing her to become an N7, she did that on her own. No one forced her onto that reaper 2 years ago, she went in voluntarily, and may I add, against my wishes." Liara was frowning and her eyes were shinning in anger, but Shepard saw that they knew the truth. "Why don't you talk to her?" Her eyes flashed in annoyance.

" _I have_ —and almost got my head blown off for the trouble. She's determined to do whatever she has to do to become an N7." He shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder. In his eyes was the pain of a father who knew he had failed as a father.

"There are many things we don't know about her past. She lived for years away from us in a place that does horrible things to people. I may not know her as well as a father should, but I've seen many soldiers who are driven by the hope of redemption, and that same look haunts our daughters eyes. There is a reason for why she is doing this, and I know you are the only one who can bypass her walls." Liara snorted.

"Just because I've done it before? There is no hacking device for walls made of emotion. If she doesn't want to open up, she won't."

"Then find the key." Shepard replied. Suddenly from beyond the plateau a scream split the air and thick dark dust started billowing from around a curve in the rocks. Both adults turned toward the sound.

"It came from over there!" Shepard set off with Liara at his heels. They came to the small path and Shepard started to inch his way toward the bend, but both knew it was too slow. "I'll go ahead, get there when you can." Liara floated off the path, held up by her biotics, and started around the bend.

"Liara be careful!" Shepard shouted after her. The asari sped toward the billowing clouds of dust, and was surprised to see them smoking out from a dark cave entrance. She alighted on the small rocky plain in front of it, her biotics still crackling with powerful energy. The asari approached the cave entrance cautiously, all senses on high alert. She reached the entrance, but the cave was so dark she could only see a few feet in front of her from her biotic light. "Mali!" She called inside. Fowl air wafted out of the tunnel like it was the pathway to a grave, promising dark and dangerous things to any who dared enter. Liara wrinkled her nose, turning slightly away. Mali wouldn't be dumb enough to go in there, the asari thought, starting to pull back. Suddenly loud scuffling and panting started to fill the cavern and Liara peered into the murky blackness.

Her body tensed as the sounds came closer, her biotics flared as she grew nervous. "Mali?" She asked into the deep but there was no answer. The panting pounded in her ears now, bouncing off the walls in so many directions she couldn't tell where it was coming from. Liara backed out of the cave and back into the sunlight so she could see whatever came out of that cave. She readied herself by erecting a barrier around her skin just in case she was attacked. Finally something within the cave moved, a shadow coming closer. Liara squinted as she tried to make it out, but before she could see anything clearly a deep shake from the ground sent the asari sprawling.

"What the-!" The asari picked herself up. What the heck was going on here? The entrance to the cave started to crumble, huge pieces starting to fall to the ground, piling up in front of the cave entrance. Liara watched as quickly half the entrance was covered, amazed at the speed of destruction. Suddenly from the top of the pile Liara spotted a familiar blonde head crawling up from exhaustedly from the other side of the pile.

Mali reached the top but her exhausted body stumbled and fell. A rock fell towards her head and she threw up a weak biotic field just in time, the rock bouncing off and away as Mail's arm trembled from the shock. "Mali!" Liara shouted, running towards her. Liara watched Mali's head come up and her gaze fix on her. Her body seemed to be invigorated with new energy as the girl quickly rose and stumbled down the rock pile. The girl held out a warning hand but Liara ignored it. "I'm coming!" The asari started up the rock pile as Mali was coming down, meeting in the middle. But as they neared each other Mali didn't stop, she just grabbed Liara's hand and dragged her back down and away from the entrance.

Up close Liara saw that the front of the girls shirt was tattered and soaked with both dried and fresh blood. "Mali we need to stop!" Liara tugged on her hand but Mali forged ahead.

"No!" Mali's voice was hoarse. "We can't stop!" Suddenly another big shake sent them sprawling on the dusty ground. Mali lay there for a few seconds, panting. A huge rumble and crash sent her looking behind her shoulder to see the rest of the cave entrance buried under the rubble. Relief flooded through her, but she knew from experience that anything short of death wouldn't stop the varren for long. She felt cool hands on her shoulders and turned to see Liara looking down at her from her squatting position with concern.

"What happened?" She asked, pulling up Mali's shirt to see the injury, but the girl tugged it down again. "Mali this is no time for modesty—"

"Its fine for now. We need to leave, where is Shepard?" Mali asked. She held onto Liara as she got to her feet.

"He's on his way. What happened to you, where is your backpack?"

"There is no time to explain, it will get out any second. That boulder pile won't keep it for long." Mali tugged at Liara but the asari didn't move. Mali looked hopelessly up at her. "COME ON!" She tried urging the asari to action.

"NO! Somali Avon you will tell me right now what is going on!" Mali fearfully looked at the rock pile but it seemed to be holding for now.

"There—there is a varren in there. Chasing me." Mali panted, still out of breath. Liara took in her daughter's bloody state and fear filled eyes and frowned.

"A varren, really? A varren couldn't do this to you."

"Trust me, this one could." Mali pulled at her shoulder, "now **_come on_**."

"Hey! You found her!" Both looked up to see Shepard's happy face coming around the bend as he inched the last few feet across. His smile morphed into a frown as he stepped closer and saw Mali.

"What in the goddess's name happened to you?" He asked. A deep feral rumble shook their spines. "And what was that?"

"The varren. Lets go!" Mali tried to pull them away but it was too late. The tunnel entrance burst open and rocks flew everywhere as the varren stormed through, growling with saliva spilling from its muzzle. Liara threw a shield up to block the rocks, and the flash of biotic light attracted the monsters attention. Both adults looked at the hulking mass of muscle and fur with wonderment and fear.

" _That_ varren could definitely do that to you." Liara said with shock. Without another prompt all three turned and ran toward the edge of the plateau. "What's the plan?" Shepard asked as they headed for the path. "The path is way too slow, it would catch us."

"Up." Mali said. Liara looked across at her, understanding dawning in her eyes.

"Up?" Shepard asked. Then he felt both of the biotic women take one of his hands on either side and jump. His feet left the ground as they sailed upwards, alighting on a rock twenty feet up.

"Up the cliff." Mali panted. They jumped from rock to rock making their way up toward the summit. Below them the varren leapt upwards and its paw dug deep into the shale, anchoring it. It leapt again, making fast time, snapping at their heels as it scrambled up the steep slope.

"Is there anything this thing can't do?" Liara asked.

"Fly." Mali helped out, her small try at humor going unappreciated. "We need to get back to the car." They made it to the summit and started to run back down, feet slipping on loose rock. The varren crested the summit only a few hundred yards behind them, howling.

"Where in the name of Amonkira did you find that thing?!" Shepard yelled as they pounded down the mountain trail.

"In the cave." Mali yelled back as she plowed ahead. "I followed its tracks." Liara rolled her eyes and groaned as they bolted yet further down.

"Why me? Why us?" She turned her eyes to heaven in exasperation. Mali yelped as her foot struck a loose stone and she slid off the trail and down the hillside, dirt and rocks scattering everywhere. She slid till her feet hit the switchback and landed her back on the trail a few hundred yards below and ahead of the two adults. She turned to look up the mountain to see the varren barreling straight down the mountain, ignoring the trail, crushing anything in its way. She summoned her biotics again and sent ball after ball of fiery energy towards the varren. A few struck the animal and where energy met flesh there was a crackle and a cry of pain.

"Take that you filthy varren." Mali spat with triumph. She became so absorbed in fighting she was surprised when Liara grabbed her hand as they flew by.

"Come on." Liara again rolled her eyes, cursing Mali's "hero complex". Despite Mali's attack the varren continued to gain on them, and they were quickly tiring.

 **Next up: A tearful goodbye**


	11. Chapter 11

"Maybe this thing is a vegetarian?" Shepard quirked an eyebrow as they ran.

"How much farther?" Liara ignored him.

"I have no idea." Mali scanned the trail for any land marks that were familiar but she didn't even know if they were on the trial anymore. They had simply started taking the quickest path downward, regardless of if it was the trail or not. Her boots were filled with moist dirt and her skin was becoming slick with unevaporated sweat. The air was clammy but humid, giving an unforgiving fervor to the air that filled her lungs.

The varren snapped to close to their heals, if its neck had been a few inches longer Shepard's leg would have been gone. "We should separate, it'll have to make a choice of who to follow."

"And the others?" Liara asked.

"Can come up from behind and attack or something." Mali shook her head. "I don't know, I can't think well with saliva raining down on me!" Shepard looked at Liara and shrugged.

"It's not like we have a lot of options, Li."

"Fine." Shepard peeled off toward the right, and Liara to the left. Mali continued straight on, her legs pumping and her lungs burning. Undeterred the varren barreled on, its sights still set on Mali.

"Of course." Mali rolled her eyes and kept going. Everything else melded into the background. The trees and her body blended together as one, her heart beat with the forest. She lashed out, the tress raking across the varren's hide. The dip in her energy was staggering as the forest soaked it up and she stumbled. The varren lunged forward, sensing her weakness and its jaws snapped at her shirt, closing around the material. With a shift shake it lifted Mali kicking into the air and flung her like a doll against a tree. There was an audible crack and she collapsed to the ground groaning.

Mali lifted her head from the bed of dead leaves on the forest floor and scanned the forest but she couldn't see either Shepard or Liara. Her palm landed in something wet as she tried to push herself up and she looked down to see her blood coating the slick leaves. The deep scratches across her chest had broken through the medi-gel. A low growl made her eyes snap up to those of the crouched varren. It was biding it's time now that it knew that Mali wasn't going anywhere-they both knew it. Her side was pounding from where she had hit the tree, any movement made her gasp in pain.

It slowly started creeping towards her, it's beady yellow eyes fixated intently on her, much like a cat keeps up on a mouse, it's massive paws barely rustling the ground as it took small steps. Mali eyes widened in fright as she realized that that was exactly what was happening, she was about to be it's prey. A shudder passed through her body as it prepared to pounce. "Liara." Mali whispered with a painful gasp under her breath as the monster gathered it's muscles under itself in preparation to spring. It bared it's teeth and growled-Mali bared her teeth back in a hiss. It crouched and flexed. The world stopped. Mali saw the tension in its muscles-the potential weight of a small hovercraft about to be sprung at her.

"Now Liara!" Shepard sprung out in front of her from nowhere with his arms spread wide in protection. The varren reeled backwards in surprise from the sudden commotion as Liara sprang from the right burning blue. Her biotics were flaming so bright and thick that she was only a dark blue silhouette amid a sea of bright blue fire. With one sweep of her hand a massive stake made out of the sharpened trunk of a tree was sent hurtling toward the giant animal suspended in a mass effect field. It crashed through the forest spinning in a tight spiral, knocking leaves and branches aside, till it pierced and embedded itself deep inside the varrens side. It let out a great howl and staggered to the left from the shock of the impact, collapsing and spaseming uncontrollably as blood welled up around its mortal wound.

Mali collapsed only a few yards away with relief, releasing her pent up breath. She felt strong hands turn her over onto her back and the blue sky and canopy of the forest came into view. Shepards worried face was leaning our her, assessing her wounds. A few moments later Liara dropped to her knees beside them and wrapped her arms around Mali and buried her face in her hair. "Mal." She whispered into her ear, relief flooding her voice. It was if Liara had thrown gasoline on a fire, the reaction was immediate. Anger welled up inside Mali as Liara coddled her and she pushed ruffle away, ignoring the flood of pain.

"I'm fine." Her voice was hard and emotionless. Liara flinched back as if she had hit her, confusion and hurt in her eyes.

"Mali?" She asked. Mali didn't reply but looked away, unable to meet her eyes.

"We should get back to the ship." Shepard interrupted, oblivious. His eyes were trained on the glassy eyes of the dead varren. Without another word he hoisted Mali into his arms and the rest of the way back to the ship was spent in silence. When they got to the hovercraft Shepard set her down in the back seat and quickly pulled out the on-hand first aid kit in the car, deftly setting to work on her wounds. Liara hung back, unsure of herself, and busied herself with packing up their gear. When she was far enough away, Shepard spoke.

"That was no way to talk to your mother Somali." So he hadn't been as oblivious as she had thought.

"She's not my mother, and your not my father." Mali replied angrily, still fired up. Shepard slapped the gauze he was holding back down onto the seat and looked her in the eyes, blue meeting blue.

"I'm not going to deny that I haven't earned that title in your life yet, but don't you dare sit there and tell me that Liara hasn't either. I don't know what's going on with you! Ever since you came back you've been treating us like strangers!" Mali stared defiantly back at him. "You will apologize to her. She just saved your life-again."

"All she sees is that helpless girl from the gutter she rescued like a pet from the humane society. I had that situation under CONTROL!" The words sprang from her mouth before she could stop them, pure venom and hate etched into every word. They both heard a small gasp and a thump and their heads whipped around to see Liara staring at them with a dusty backpack at her feet. Mali immediately regretted her words. A single tear slid down the asari's cheek before her face hardened harder than rock and she turned away, storming into the surrounding woods. Shepard glared at his wide-eyed daughter.

"Fix this." He got up, finished with the med kit, "and go get her before she gets eaten by another varren or you bleed to death." Mali lifted herself up and limped after the blue alien she called mother. She cursed herself for her lack of self-control—exploding like that after Liara had unknowingly used Mae's nickname for her—but it had been _so_ unexpected and Mali had been in a vulnerable state. For months she had been tormented by that same dream, hearing Mae's small voice over and over again say her name with so much trust and love. Hearing it come out of another's voice, with that same look shining from their eyes and laced in their words—it had just been too much.

"Does this make me a monster?" She spoke to the empty woods around her. All she did was push the people she loved away from her, one way or another. She was just so good at destroying her own happiness. Mae was gone, and Mali couldn't change that. Yet she was letting her memories of her hurt the others around her. Mali was ok if she felt eternal torment over them, it was what she deserved for failing the little girl, but it was not ok for it to hurt Liara or anyone else. This was her own private war to wage.

Mali limped, following the trail the asari had left behind till she found the woman sitting on a fallen log, slumped over. Mali quietly came up and sat down next to the asari, not saying anything, just sitting with her. Liara looked away from her, her hands clenched in her lap.

"I'm sorry. I deserve a bath in molten lava." Mali spoke quietly.

"You're pushing me away Mali and I don't know why. It's like everything I do drives us further apart and I can't find a way to bring us close again. What am I doing wrong?"

"Liara its not you." Mali laid a hand on her bicep but the asari shrugged it off. "It's all me, Liara, it always has been. There is some truth to my words back there—I haven't really changed that much from when I was that street kid. I'm still emotionally restarted, I just have bigger guns now." Liara turned to her with anger in her eyes.

"That's not true! You _have_ changed. You are so generous and selfless, your curious about the universe around you—you can read!—you make me smile every day. You are a far cry better than you were before. Yet you _refuse_ to believe that! You still are stuck in a time and place that has long gone. You still think you are underserving of anything good that happens to you. You believe you don't deserve any peace or love that this galaxy has to offer you but I don't see anyone _more_ deserving. You've given up so much already for the good of all. I don't want you to sell your soul."

"I don't know if they would take it Liara. You know I've done bad things I can't take back, and there are bad things you don't know about that I can't take back." Mali touched that knife scar that lay under her shirt. "I've been the _betrayer_ before Liara, I could do it again." Liara touched her cheek and Mali met her eyes.

"You've also played the _savior_ before too. All of us are a balance of good and evil Mali, we are all imperfect. It's up to you to choose which one will tip the scale." Mali leaned into Liara's side, sighing. They listened to the sounds of the forest around them for awhile, enjoying the peace. "I don't see you as a pet you know."

"I didn't mean what I said Liara—you mean more to me than my own life."

"And you mean more to me than mine." Her melodious voice was filled with love. "Sometimes I wonder when it was that I fell in love with you Somali Avon." She wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulders and kissed her head. "Let's go before you bleed to death." Mali looked down at her slightly stained dressings.

"That varren really did a number on me." Liara gestured for Mali to climb onto her back and Mali clambered on, Liara easily lifting her up, starting back to the hovercar. Liara wrinkled her brow in thought.

"Yes, I was wondering about possible explanations for how that varren could have grown to such abnormal proportions…"

"You mean how freakishly big it was? I was wondering the same thing _as it was chomping down on my body_!" Mali replied sarcastically. "Jeeze Liara, sometimes you scare me how scientific your thinking is. As we are running for our lives you stop to think "hm, what a great time to contemplate the universe"."

"No Mali, that's philosophy." Liara snorted as they sidled up to the hovecar.

"Hey guys, look at this." Shepard was leaning against the car, bent over his omni-tool. Mali slid down Liara's back and the two of them peered at it from over his shoulder. Shepard had the Thessian Trail's Association page up on his omni-tool to the trail that they were on, and all over it in big red letters was "Trail Closed Due to Wild Animal Sightings".

"Just great, did anyone even think about checking the trail page before we left?" Liara took in the two Shepards standing side by side with awkward grins on their faces.

"Hehe, at least they can reopen the trail now." Mali smirked. Shepard chuckled but Liara just raised an eyebrow as they all got in.

"Still though, how could that thing have grown so big?" Shepard asked as he lifted them off. They zoomed off above the trees, all grateful to be rid of the place.

"I don't want to speculate—but I think it may have something to do with the weird behavior of the stars lately." Liara replied.

"What behavior?" Mali asked, rummaging around the car in the back. Both adults looked at her with surprise in the rearview mirror. Mali felt the silence and glanced up. "Hey, I've ben on a mountain for the past three weeks."

"It's been all over the news lately. There has been a lot of solar activity lately from many key stars all over the galaxy-a lot of radiation has been expelled. But I don't want to theorize until I get hard evidence—I wish I had gotten a sample from that varren." There was a clang and more rustling as Mali continued in the back. "Mali can you please quit with the racket? If you want a snack you have to wait till home because Shepard ate it all." Liara reprimanded.

"Hey…" Shepard accused.

"I'm not looking for a _snack_ ," Mali snorted, "I was looking for this!" She held up a plastic baggy from the back and thrust it forward into Liara's face proudly. At first LIara thought it was empty, but as she focused on the bag she could thin small blue hair nestled on the bottom.

"Mali, is that…" Liara's hand came to her mouth.

"Yep! It was stuck to my dried blood when I noticed it while Shepard was treating my wounds. I thought we shouldn't waste a golden opportunity." Liara turned back with laughter in her eyes and hugged the girl, gently because of her wounds, but whole-heartedly.

"And here you were making fun of my scientific brain!" The asari laughed.

"Well, well—she really is your daughter." Shepard chuckled.

* * *

I

* * *

Later that night after Shepard had said his goodbyes both girls were bedding down for the night. Liara was fully aware that this was her last night with her daughter and she wanted to make it count. As Mali was starting to settle down in her bed Liara softly padded over to her room and knocked on her doorjamb. "Hey, why don't you come sleep with me tonight?" The asari smiled.

"Ok." Mali shrugged and picked up her pillow. They both snuggled deep into the asari's blankets and Mali was softly snoring within seconds, her face buried in her pillow. Liara snorted and her eyes softly beheld one of the two loves of her life. She softly kissed Mali's brow and smoothed the hair from her sleeping face. She sighed, thinking about how she was going to miss this little bundle of energy. As her eyes shifted as she was laying down they caught a small silvery shimmer from light reflecting off of the girl's exposed neck.

Curious, Liara moved her hair a bit more away from the girl's back and gasped. Mali's tank top she was wearing exposed her shoulders and the silvery burn scar that graced them, something Liara had never seen. It was huge and splotchy, the scar's edge wavering and curling like the flames that had made it. The inside rippled with different silvery colors mixed with Mali's own skin tone, making it slightly mesmerizing. A memory came back to her: " _her skin is made up of 20% scar tissue…the longest patch being a knife scar on her left side and some burn scars on her back… it looks like she's been through a war."._ She deftly slid back the bed's covers and pushed up Mali's shirt from the bottom and gasped, the scar extended all the way down to the bottom of her back.

"How?" Liara whispered. She hugged the girl close until she too fell asleep.

The next day both Shepard and Liara followed Mali to the terminal, the whole way Liara muttering about how unsafe Mali's hovercycle was. Finally Shepard had had enough, he gestured to the girl in front of them. "Look at her, she has one, she's riding it, there's nothing you can do anymore. Li you got to let her go."

"To get blown up? Shot? Ripped to shreds? What mother would let her child go through that? With Jack, of all people, no less."

"Shes not a child anymore. I don't think she ever was one." Shepard replied.

"She is one to me. You all are." Liara folded her arms and kept silent the rest of the way there. Mali parked her bike again, same as last time, and found them at the terminal doors with her duffle thrown over her back. Her cuts had healed quite nicely, and there was hope of not too much scarring. She had on fresh clothes and a radiant smile—she looked refreshed since when she had gotten here.

"Well, thanks for the- _erm_ -eventful couple of days." Mali laughed. Shepard chuckled but Liara stayed silent.

"Stay safe Mali." She pulled her into a hug, which Mali returned. Then she gave one to Shepard.

"I gotta go now, I promise I'll call soon." Mali turned back toward the terminal and took a couple steps, giving them a small wave. Shepard put his arm around Liara as they watched their kid go, but then Mali whirled around and came storming back, plowing into them at light speed. "I love you guys, I always will."

 **Next Up: Mali gets her butt kicked by the queen of the swear jar**


End file.
